Sahabzada Yaqub Khan

Sahabzada Yaqub Ali Khan Urdu: (صاحبزادہ یعقوب خان; December 23, 1920 – January 26, 2016) MC, SPk, was a Pakistani statesman, diplomat, military figure, pacifist, linguist, and a retired three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army.
Born into an Indian nobility, he was educated at the Indian Military College at Dehradun and served well in the World War II on the side of Great Britain as an officer in the British Indian Army. After the partition of India in 1947, he opted for Pakistan and joined Pakistan Army where he participated in war against India in 1965. He was the Chief of General Staff of East Pakistani military and eventually appointed its commander in 1967. He was appointed as Governor of East-Pakistan in 1969 and 1971 but recalled to Pakistan after submitting resignation amid civil unrest. In 1973, he joined the Foreign Service and was appointed as Pakistan Ambassador to the United States and later ascended as Foreign Minister, serving under President Zia-ul-Haq in 1982.
His stint as Foreign Minister played a major role in Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1979–89) and took part in negotiations to end the proxies in Nicaragua (1981–87) on the behalf of the United Nations. In the 1990s, he served as an official of the United Nations for Western Sahara until reappointed as Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. After retiring from diplomatic services in 1997, he spent his remaining years in Islamabad and died in Islamabad in 2016.

Youth and World war II

Mohammad Yaqub Ali Khan was born into an aristocrat Royal Indian family in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, British Indian Empire on 23 December 1920. The title, Sahabzada (lit. Young Prince), is an honorific bestowed to him to represent the Indian royalty. He was of the Afghan descent and was an ethnically a Pashtun who belonged to a Yousafzai tribe.

His father, Sir Abdus Samad Khan was an aristocrat and politician who served as chief minister of Rampur, and as British India's representative to the League of Nations. His ancestral roots traced back to Mirza Ghalib who was appointed teacher of Nawab of Rampur in 1857, who travelled to Rampur twice, in 1860 and 1865.

He was educated at the Rashtriya Indian Military College at Dehradun and gained commissioned in British Indian Army in 1940 and attached to the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry.

His military career saw the actions in the World War II and served in the North African Campaign where he took participation in Tobruk siege and was taken POWs by Afrika Korps, spending year-and-half in the Axis powers's camp before making his escape. His escape attempt was partially successful and was recaptured shortly by the German forces who held him till April 1945 when he was rescued by the U.S. Army soldiers. During his time in German custody, he learnt languages by interacting with fellow prisoners and reading literature in those languages. After the World War II, he was awarded the Military Cross by the United Kingdom for his actions.

Upon returning to India in 1945, he was selected as an adjutant to Field Marshal Lord Wavell with an army rank of Major. After hearing the news of partition of India and creation of Pakistan, he decided to opt for Pakistan, and initially was selected as Aide-de-camp to the Muhammad Ali Jinnah– the first Governor-General of Pakistan. It was then-Lieutenant S.M. Ahsan who was made the ADC at the behest of Lord Mountbatten, and Yaqub was appointed as commandant of the Governor-General's bodyguard for the first Governor-General which he led until 1948. During this time, he attended the short but brief one-year course in the Command and Staff College in Quetta and graduated with a staff officer's degree. In 1948–51, he commanded the regiment in the Armoured Corps that was stationed in Lahore, Punjab.

In 1951, he served in the Military Intelligence (MI) as Lieutenant-Colonel, and directed initiatives to analytical branch of the ISI for the whereabouts of the Indian Army but he reportedly struggled with providing factual intelligence that was provided to ISI.:27–28 He was appointed as Colonel in 1953 and went Paris in France to attend the famed École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr where he graduated in 1954.

Upon returning to Pakistan, he was promoted as Brigadier in 1955 where he served as a chief instructor at the Command and Staff College.

Staff and war appointments:1960–69

In 1958, he was appointed as the vice Chief of General Staff at the Army GHQ and later becoming the Commandant of the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1960. In 1960, he was promoted as Major-General and commanded the 1st Armoured Division of Armoured Corps and was said to have a portrait of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in his office. As an armored commander, he arranged a course on philosophy on the Panzer doctrine to educate the armoured division on the tank battles and strategies.

He participated in the war against India in 1965, having command his 1st Armoured Division. He helped develop the operational planning of the armoured vehicular warfare deployments against the Indian Army advances in Punjab and presented his views at the Army GHQ.:22–23 Soon after, he was appointed as Director-General Military Operations (DGMO) by General Musa Khan and directed all formats of ground operations during the 1965 war against India.

After the war, he was appointed as Chief of General Staff at the Army GHQ under army chief General Yahya Khan in 1966 and remained until 1969.

East Pakistan: military advisor and governorship (1969–71)

In 1969, Major-General Yaqub Khan was posted in East Pakistan as the deputy chief of staff Eastern Command in Dacca by President Yahya Khan and helped evaluate the command rotation of the Eastern military.:359 Soon, he was promoted as the Lieutenant-General and was immediately appointed as Governor of East Pakistan where he began learning the Bengali language and became accustomed to Bengali culture.:24 His first tenure was short lived and was succeeded by Vice-Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan who approved his appointment as the senior military adviser to the East Pakistan Army and eventually becoming the Chief of General Staff of the East-Pakistani military.:110 He was highly respected by the East Pakistani military officers due to his stance and professionalism and was said to be very well liked and respected in the East.

He was known to be an unusual military officer who knew very well of "limits of force",:62 and did not believe in the use of brute force to settle political disputes. In 1969–71, he worked together with the Admiral Ahsan in advising the Yahya administration in an effort to resolve the situation and restricted strictly on the proposal of usage of military force in the province.

At the cabinet meeting, he was often fierce and strictly resisted the usage of military option but was respected in the military due to his understanding of Bengali issues whose colleague often labeled him as "Bingos." In 1970, he notably coordinated the relief operations when the disastrous cyclone had hit the state and gained prestige for his efforts in the country.:114

In 1971, he participated in the area contingency and fact-finding mission, which would known as Ahsan–Yaqub Mission, to resolve the political deadlock between the East Pakistan and Pakistan as both men argued that "military measures would not change the political situations".:69–71

On March 1971, he became aware of the rumors of "usage of military force" and sent desperate military signals to President Yahya Khan in Islamabad for a halt to the military solution.:225–226 After the resignation of Admiral Ahsan, he was ordered the use the military force against the civil agitation led by the Awami League but refused to take this order and tendered his resignation to be posted back to Pakistan.:71 His resignation came in the light of resisting the military orders and fiercely maintained the President Yahya that "military solution was not acceptable.":225–226

Commenting on the situation, Yaqub maintained that: "[President] Yahya was also keen to impose the "open sword" martial law to roll back the situation was it was in 1969. He lodged a strong protest against the military solution and maintained that the "central government had failed to listen to the voices of their co-citizens in the East.":225–226 To many authors, Yaqub Khan had became a "conscientious objector" in the military.:226

He was posted back to Pakistan and was joined in the Army GHQ and participated in winter war against India in 1971 without commanding an assignment and retired from the military after the war, in 1972.

Ambassadorship to France, United States, and Soviet Union

After seeking the honorable discharge from the army, he joined the Foreign Service as a career diplomat in 1972, initially taking his first assignment as Pakistan Ambassador to France until 1973.:185 In 1973, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed him as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States which he served in this capacity until 1979.:185 He was sent Pakistan's envoy to United States when the foreign relations with the United States were cooling but he gained international prominence he was became involved with Egyptian ambassador Ashraf Ghorbal and Iranian Ambassador to the United States Ardeshir Zahedi to take part in defusing the siege of three federal buildings in the Washington D.C. by the group of American Muslims in 1977.

In 1979, he was sent to Moscow and was appointed as Pakistan Ambassador to the Soviet Union where he worked towards building foreign relations with the Soviet Union by signing an educational accord.:11-12 In 1980, he was reassigned in France again which he remained until 1982.:185

Foreign Minister and United Nations

Yaqub Ali Khan was brought in to the Zia administration as Foreign Minister in 1982 when Agha Shahi was departed from President Zia-ul-Haq's cabinet. He was appointed Foreign Minister in the conservative-aligned government but Yaqub maintained his composure and his Western wit in the Zia administration.

As Foreign Minister, he directed a proactive and keen pro-American policy and supported the U.S. sponsored clandestine program to arm the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet sponsored Afghanistan.:120-129 He advised President Zia-ul-Haq on many key matters and firmly had gripped the country's foreign policy towards on the track of pro-U.S. foreign policy as many military officers joined his Foreign ministry.:277-278 During this time, the matters were kept out of the sight of the Foreign Office with Yaqub handling matters with the military.:277-278 He continued his role as Foreign Minister after the general elections held in 1985 by the Prime Minister Mohammad Junejo.

At foreign fronts, he played a crucial role in providing the support for his country's cover and clandestine nuclear development whilst maintaining a strong policy of deliberate ambiguity.:170-171 In 1984, he reportedly issued a statement in Washington D.C. on Pakistan's massive retaliation when observing India's pre-emptive strikes on Pakistan's facilities, and made unsuccessful proposal to United States to put Pakistan under its nuclear umbrella.:149-150

In 1980s, he provided his diplomatic expertise in resolving the Soviet–Afghan War when he explored the possibility of setting-up the interim system of government under former monarch Zahir Shah but this was not authorized by President Zia-ul-Haq.:247-248 In 1984-85, he paid visits to China, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Union, France, United States and the United Kingdom to develop framework for the Geneva Accords which was signed on 1988.:335 About the death and state funeral of President Zia-ul-Haq, Yaqub was earlier warned by Soviet Foreign Minister Edward Shevardnadze that Pakistan's support for Afghan mujahideen "would not go unpunished.":407 Yaqub Khan, on the other hand, stressed for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.

In 1980s, he also managed to maintained to retain Pakistan's close friendship with Iran and the rich Arab States during the Iran-Iraq war.:xxx After the general elections held in 1988 in the country, Yaqub was kept as Foreign Minister in the First Benazir ministry by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in order to engage in negotiation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).:196

In 1988–90, he aided Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to reach to sign a arms control treaty with her Indian counterpart Rajiv Gandhi.:285 In 1990, he met with Indian External Minister, I.K. Gujral to convened a secret message to Indian Prime Minister V. P. Singh to warn against an active conflict between two countries. :231-232

After the general elections held in 1990, he was inducted in first Sharif ministry by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which he remained until 1991.:xxxvi He once again put country's foreign policy to supporting U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in the Gulf War.:77 After the Gulf War, Yaqub left his post as Foreign Minister following his resignation on 26 February 1991.:225

After his resignation, he went on to joined the United Nations when he was named the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara in 1992 which he remained until 1995.:194 In 1996, he was again re-appointed as Foreign Minister by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but it was short-lived when his tenure was cut-short after President Farooq Leghari who dismissed Benazir Bhutto's government.

Although he retired from politics in 1997, Yaqub Ali Khan did provide his support to President Pervez Musharraf's to stablise his writ against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999 when he visited United States to provide legitimacy of military martial law.

In 1981, he was apponited as the founding chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University which he chaired for almost two decades until his retirement in 2001. He was also a commissioner in the now retired Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict in New York City, United States.

Yaqub Ali Khan was married to Begum Tuba Khaleeli of the Iranian Khaleeli family of Calcutta from whom he had two sons, Samad and Najib. He was said to be proficient in seven global languages including English, Russian, French, Urdu, German, Italian, and Bengali languages.:260 He died of an old age, at 95, in Islamabad where he was laid to rest in Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. His funeral services were attended by the Chairman joint chief General Rashad Mahmood, army chief General Raheel Sharif, air chief General Sohail Aman, naval chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah and other a large number of high-ranking civil and military officials and people from all walks of life.

Autobiography

• Khan, Sahabzada Mohammad Yaqub Ali (2005). Strategy, diplomacy, humanity : life and work of Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan. Karachi: International Forum Takshila Research University. p. 396. ISBN 0975586017. 

• "The Life and Work of Sahabzada Yaqub Khan" Aga Khan University News & Events
• "Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict"
• Reza, S. Mohammad. Persons who Shape Our Destiny: A Compendium of Bio-datas of Those Persons who are Rendering Important Services in Various Fields of National Activity. Dar Publications. Retrieved 21 December 2016. 
• "Former foreign minister Sahibzada Yaqub Khan dies at 95". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 21 December 2016.