He will be replacing Suhrab Hossain whose contractual appointment will be expired in April.
Ahsan, a career diplomat belong to ninth batch of BCS foreign service, is currently serving as the High Commissioner in Sri Lanka.
Hossain, also a career diplomat, was in retirement when he was appointed on a contractual basis in 2010 for two years.
The contract of this freedom fighter, who joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1973, was subsequently extended twice.
But the foreign ministry asked him to return home “as soon as possible” through a letter in December last year.
He was at home in Bangladesh during the diplomatic spat between Dhaka and Islamabad.
This was over the war crimes trial in Bangladesh and Islamabad’s withdrawal of a ‘terror-linked’ diplomat from Dhaka.
In his absence in Islamabad, a junior diplomat who was the acting High Commissioner had to face the Pakistan foreign ministry.
Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque, however, then told bdnews24.com that Hossain’s contract was about to expire. “It’s normal,” he then said when asked about the letter.
However, Hossain continued to face Pakistani wrath. He was last summoned on Feb 8.
Ahsan, the new High Commissioner, has served at Bangladesh missions in New York, Riyadh, Jakarta and Berlin in different capacities in his long career.
He has also served in the foreign ministry as director general of the international organisations (IO) wing.
Ahsan studied engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET).
He also obtained a post-graduate diploma in international relations and development from the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague.
