Najmuddin Shaikh | |
Office: | 21st Foreign Secretary of Pakistan |
Term Start: | 30 April 1994 |
Term End: | 24 February 1997 |
Predecessor: | Shahryar Khan |
Successor: | Shamshad Ahmad |
Birth Date: | 4 September 1939 |
Spouse: | Raana Shaikh |
Alma Mater: | The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University |
Primeminister: | Benazir Bhutto Nawaz Sharif |
Najmuddin Shaikh (Urdu: نجم الدین شیخ) (born 4 September 1939)[1] served as the Pakistani ambassador to the United States (1990–1991) and later served as Foreign Secretary of Pakistan (1994–1997).[2] [3]
He received his bachelor's degree from Sindh University.[4] He is a graduate of Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (1962).[4] His wife, Raana Shaikh, has served as the Managing Director of Pakistan Television, and earlier as Secretary for the Ministry of Culture. He is the brother of Air Marshal Riazuddin Shaikh.
Shaikh joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1961. During his 38 years of service, he served as Pakistan's ambassador to Canada (1987–1989), ambassador to West Germany (1989–1990), ambassador to the United States (1990–1991) and ambassador to Iran (1992–1994). He then served as Foreign Secretary from 1994 to 1997, later replaced by Shamshad Ahmad. He has also served as Pakistan's special envoy to Yemen, Sudan, Kenya and Bahrain (February 2005).[4]
Shaikh has been a member of the board of governors of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad and senior vice president of the Karachi Council of Foreign Relations. He used to write a weekly column on foreign affairs for the Dawn newspaper and now writes for the Daily Pakistan newspaper.