Two key aides of new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are engaged in turf war over control of the Foreign Ministry at a time when Pakistan is grappling with a host of crucial foreign policy issues, including fraught relations with the US.
Former Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz, appointed Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security, is upset with former envoy Tariq Fatemi, named a Special Assistant to the premier, over the latter's efforts to exert complete control of the Foreign Office, sources in the PML-N said.
Matters reached a head after Fatemi summoned US Charge d'Affaires Richard Hoagland to the Foreign Office on June 8 to protest a recent drone strike in Pakistan's tribal belt.
The sources told PTI that Aziz was opposed to the move as he felt that the Foreign Office should not take such strong action just days after the new PML-N government had assumed office.
During a recent trip by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Islamabad, Fatemi conveyed through official channels to Berlin that he would lead the Pakistani delegation for talks with the visiting dignitary, sources said.
Fatemi also made it clear that he would address a joint press stakeout with Westerwelle, the sources added.
Such actions have not gone down well with the 84-year-old Aziz, who served as Foreign and Finance Minister in Prime Minister Sharif's last government in the late 1990s.
The sources said Aziz had informed Sharif that such a state of affairs could not be allowed to continue in the Foreign Office.
Sharif decided to retain the crucial foreign affairs and defence portfolios with himself and appointed both Aziz and Fatemi to advise him on foreign policy issues.
Sources said it was expected that Fatemi would work in close coordination with Aziz, who has had a longer association with the PML-N and Sharif.
Aziz is "unhappy" with the latest developments, including a perception that Fatemi is trying to take decisions without consulting him on crucial issues, the sources said.
Besides, a section within the PML-N too is opposed to Fatemi's appointment as a Special Assistant to the premier, the sources added.
