WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump has nominated Natalie A. Baker, the senior American diplomat currently heading the US mission in Islamabad, as the next US ambassador to Pakistan, the White House announced in a statement.
Baker is already well known in Islamabad’s diplomatic circles. She arrived in Pakistan in August 2024 as deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy and now serves as chargé d’affaires, the top diplomat in charge of the embassy in the absence of a confirmed ambassador.
Her nomination will now go to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee for review. If the committee clears her, the full Senate will vote on her confirmation before she can formally take up the post of ambassador.
A familiar face in Islamabad
As chargé d’affaires, Baker has represented Washington in its day-to-day dealings with the Government of Pakistan. If confirmed, she would take up the ambassadorship having already spent more than two years working at the embassy in Islamabad, first as the mission’s second-ranking official and then as its head.
The post of US ambassador to Pakistan is one of Washington’s key diplomatic positions in South Asia. Ambassadors work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government departments on trade, investment, security cooperation, education and people-to-people ties.
Growing engagement between Islamabad and Washington
The nomination comes at a time of active engagement between Pakistan and the United States on economic and investment matters. Pakistan has been seeking to attract American investment, particularly in its minerals and energy sectors, as part of wider efforts to bring foreign capital into the economy.
This week, Islamabad is hosting the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026, where the government is inviting international firms to invest in the country’s mineral resources. Pakistan has also been working to expand exports to the US, which remains one of its largest export markets.
Once confirmed by the Senate, Baker would present her credentials to the President of Pakistan and formally begin her term as ambassador. Until then, she will continue to lead the embassy as chargé d’affaires, handling the mission’s work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Pakistani institutions. State broadcaster Radio Pakistan carried news of the nomination on Wednesday, citing the White House statement.
The White House statement did not say when the Senate is expected to take up the nomination. Confirmation timelines for ambassadorial posts vary and depend on the Senate’s schedule.
Featured image: Photo: United States Embassy / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
