PESHAWAR (Kashmir English): The United States (US) Department has made the final decision to permanently close its diplomatic office in Peshawar this week in an effort to reduce costs, according to the AP news agency.
According to the details, the US Consulate in Peshawar currently has 18 American diplomats serving. The annual expenses of this consulate are said to be 2.24 billion rupees.
The department notified Congress this week of its intent to close the consulate and said it would save $7.5 million per year, while not adversely affecting its ability to advance U.S. national interests in Pakistan, according to a copy of the notification obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The move has been under consideration for more than a year since the Trump administration began downsizing nearly all federal agencies and is not related to the Iran war, which has set off protests in various Pakistani cities, including Karachi and Peshawar, where the U.S. consulates temporarily suspended operations.
The administration’s cuts to the State Department last year included the dismissal of several thousand diplomatic personnel and the near wholesale firing of staffers with the U.S. Agency for International Development, which it entirely dismantled.
The Peshawar consulate, however is the first overseas diplomatic mission to be closed down entirely because of the State Department’s reorganization.
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