Syed Haider Shah presents credentials as Pakistan’s new UN ambassador in New York
Ambassador Syed Haider Shah has formally presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York, succeeding Asim Iftikhar Ahmad as Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Pakistan's newly appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, has formally presented his credentials to Secretary-General António Guterres at United Nations Headquarters in New York, completing the formal step that opens his tenure as Islamabad's top diplomat at the world body.
The ceremony took place on Tuesday, according to reports from Pakistan's mission to the UN carried by Dawn and the Associated Press of Pakistan. Presenting credentials is the customary act by which a new ambassador is formally received by the host organisation, and it marks the point from which Shah will speak and negotiate for Pakistan across the UN system.
During the meeting, Shah reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to multilateralism and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. He also underlined Islamabad's support for the organisation's work across its three pillars: international peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.
Shah conveyed the greetings and best wishes of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, the mission said. Guterres reciprocated those greetings and, according to the reports, appreciated Pakistan's positive and constructive contributions to the United Nations.
Shah succeeds Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, who has moved to Islamabad as Pakistan's foreign secretary after a two-year assignment as permanent representative in New York. Ahmad paid his farewell call on the secretary-general on 30 September, closing a tenure that ended last month.
Shah arrives in New York as a senior career diplomat with long experience of multilateral work. He had served as Pakistan's ambassador to the Netherlands since March 2025, and before that he was additional secretary for United Nations and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation affairs at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad from November 2022 to February 2025.
His earlier postings include ambassador to Nepal from 2020 to 2022 and deputy head of mission at Pakistan's High Commission in New Delhi from 2016 to 2020, a period that included time as acting high commissioner. He also served earlier in his career at Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, giving him direct familiarity with the institution he will now lead for Pakistan.
By training, Shah is a lawyer. He holds a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School, awarded in 1998, and a law degree from Khyber Law College at the University of Peshawar, awarded in 1993, and he has co-authored research on the legislative powers of the UN Security Council.
The permanent representative's job is one of the most important in Pakistan's diplomacy. The ambassador leads the mission's work in the General Assembly and across UN bodies, presenting Pakistan's positions, negotiating resolutions and building support among other member states on issues ranging from regional peace and security to development, climate and human rights.
For Pakistan, the appointment comes at a busy moment in world affairs, with wars, regional tensions and debates over reform of global institutions all on the UN agenda. How Shah uses his legal and multilateral background in those debates, and how he manages Pakistan's long-standing priorities at the UN, will be watched closely in the weeks ahead as he settles into the role in New York.
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