Tanvir Ahmad Khan

Tanvir Ahmad Khan (BA MA Oxon) (12 June 1932 – 16 November 2013) was a career diplomat from Pakistan. He retired as the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. He held various key diplomatic offices during his long career including serving as Ambassador in Moscow (Russian Federation), Paris (France), Tehran (Iran) and Dhaka (Bangladesh).

Khan was born in Hoshiarpur, eastern Punjab, in June 1932. His father, Nazir Ahmad Khan, was an educationalist who spent his working life striving to uplift the educational abilities of young Muslims, many of whom were from underprivileged backgrounds. When Pakistan became independent in 1947, Tanvir Ahmad Khan and his parents migrated to Lahore, where Khan continued his schooling, later enrolling at the Government College, Lahore.

Tanvir Ahmad Khan was educated at Government College, Lahore and later continued his studies at Brasenose College, Oxford. At Oxford, Tanvir Ahmad Khan read English Literature - earning a BA Honours / MA. Thereafter he returned to Government College Lahore to teach English Literature at his former alma mater, before leaving academia to join government service.

Khan served as Pakistan's ambassador to the Russian Federation, Bangladesh, Czechoslovakia, Iran, France, and was accredited to Ireland and Finland. Before he served as Pakistan's ambassador, he had held senior positions in Pakistan's missions in London, Bonn, Kabul and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Islamabad (including additional foreign secretary and director general).

Foreign Secretary

Khan served as the 19th Foreign Secretary under the Government of Benazir Bhutto in 1989-90 and twice served as Information Secretary to the Government of Pakistan.

After retiring Khan twice served as chairman and director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad.

Tanvir Ahmad Khan's articles on foreign affairs and domestic politics have been published in many major newspapers and journals (number of articles estimated to be well over 500) including the Express Tribune (affiliate of the International Herald Tribune), The News International - Islamabad, The Daily Times - Islamabad, Dawn - Karachi, and Gulf News (UAE). He has appeared in numerous TV and radio discussions and programmes concerning foreign affairs and international relations (including BBC World Service, CNN, VOA, NDTV [India], Al Jazeera [Doha] PTV News, GEO NEWS, ARY DIGITAL, News One, Aaj TV). Khan has also delivered lectures on foreign policy to members of the Pakistan armed forces, civil service, diplomatic corps in Pakistan and at think tanks and universities across Pakistan.