NEW YORK: Ahsan Chughtai, a Pakistani-American activist, has been appointed as New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ senior advisor for South Asian and Muslim affairs, it was officially announced on March 1.

The announcement said that Chughtai, 50, will develop relationships with those communities in New York City, APP reported.

Chughtai has been a civic and political leader for more than 20 years helping elected officials in creating policies for all levels of government, founding non-profit charity organisations, and liaising between community agencies and diverse communities in New York City, it said.

Read more: Writer Usman Malik becomes first Pakistani to win Crawford Award

“Our vibrant Pakistani community excelling yet again,” Pakistan’s Consul General in New York, Ayesha Ali, wrote on the Twitter.

Earlier, Pakistan Consulate General New York had teeted, “Proud moment as Ahsan Chugtai nominated the first ever Pakistani American as NYC Mayor Senior Advisor on South Asia and Muslim Affairs.”

Last month, Pakistani-American writer Usman T. Malik had won the 2022 Crawford Award, presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts for a first book of fantasy, for his story collection Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan (Kitab (Pvt) Ltd.)

The awards committee had also named as runners-up E. Lily Yu’s novel On Fragile Waves (Erewhon), and Isabel Yap’s collection Never Have I Ever (Small Beer).