 From January 2003 Klose also chaired the German-American Parliamentary Friendship Group.Within his parliamentary group, he served on its task force on Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2009 and 2013.On 16 March 2010, Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle appointed Klose to succeed Karsten Voigt as the government's coordinator for German-American affairs, a rare case of a senior political appointment not being given to a member of the governing party .