ISLAMABAD - Pakistan faces serious shortage of diplomatic staff at its embassies abroad, as its 40 out of total 105 missions are currently being run by only one career diplomat whereas the others too lacking badly in this regard. In addition to 40 missions being run single handedly, 30 other Pakistani missions are having two officials from the foreign ministry each. The gravity of situation could be well gauged from the fact that in a country like Nepal, with all its importance in the region, only one career diplomat has been assigned to look after all the matters. "Our embassy at Washington, the world's most important capital, is being run only by seven persons from the diplomatic corps and all this is happening at a time when Pakistan is passing through the most critical juncture of its history and facing daunting task of improving the image abroad," said a senior government official here requesting anonymity. He was of the view that such a shortage of career diplomats at Pak embassies and missions was making it more difficult to carry out the task of image building and also to achieve the targets set in terms of enhanced economic relations with the important world powers as well as major players in the region. When asked about the government plans to overcome the shortage of diplomatic staff, the official said it was possible that the strength of career diplomats and foreign ministry officials be increased by 10 to 12 per cent. He added that so far no proposal had been finalised in this regard but soon it could be put into black and white to address the issue.