US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome has taken charge of his new position in Islamabad, the 24NewsHD TV channel reported Monday.

According to the US Embassy, the new envoy will play a key role in cementing bilateral ties. Blome will be the first full-time ambassador to Pakistan since August 2018 when American envoy David Hale returned home after completing his term. The Trump administration did not appoint a full-time envoy to Islamabad. 

US President Joe Biden appointed him in October and the US Senate confirmed this appointment in March, stating the Partnership with Pakistan is key to progress on regional security, trade and investment, the climate crisis, and human rights. Last week. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman administered the oath and described him as a stellar choice to build upon 75 years of US-Pakistan relations.

Blome – who served US diplomatic missions in Tunisia Kabul, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad, and Kuwait – was sworn in at a time when Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto was in the US to attend a global moot.  On the side of this moot, he met key US figures including Secretary of State-US Secretary of State Antony Blinkeny and Congressman Ami Bera, renewing Pakistan's resolve to play a pivotal part in global peace efforts.

Blome is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service belonging to the class of minister-counselor. He served as the civilian co-director at the Multinational Force Strategic Engagement Cell, Baghdad, political counselor at the US Embassy Kuwait, and as Israel desk officer, deputy director and acting director at the Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs. Ambassador Blome earned a BA and a JD from the University of Michigan.