Washington, June 27: United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Farah Pandith will play a “leading role” in engaging Muslims across the world in her new capacity as Special Representative to Muslim Communities.
Ms. Pandith, a Kashmiri-origin Muslim woman, was appointed by Clinton as the US Special Representative to Muslim Communities early this week. This is part of the Obama Administration’s effort to reach out to the Muslim communities across the world.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Farah Pandith to serve as Special Representative to Muslim Communities,” Clinton said in a statement, making a formal announcement in this regard.
“Farah brings years of experience to the job and she will play a leading role in our efforts to engage Muslims around the world,” Ms. Clinton said.
The State Department said Clinton has asked Pandith to head the new Office of the US Special Representative to Muslim Communities. Special Representative Pandith and her staff will be responsible for executing the Administration’s efforts to engage with Muslims around the world on a people-to-people and organisational level, it said.
Ms. Pandith was the senior adviser on Muslim engagement in European and Eurasian regions at the State Department. The position was created for the first time in the US history.
Prior to the State Department, Pandith served on the National Security Council at the White House where she worked on Muslim engagement and combating extremism.
She worked at the US Agency for International Development in the early 1990s and again in 2003. She also served in Kabul in 2004.
–PTI