Aziz Ahmed

Who was Aziz Ahmed?

Aziz Ahmed, HPk, was a career Pakistani statesman and diplomat during the Cold war served as 12th Foreign Minister, serving under executed Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Prior to 1960 to 1967, Ahmed served as the Foreign policy adviser to the military government of President Ayub Khan.

First appointed and served as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States in 1959, Aziz Ahmed was the closest Foreign policy adviser to the President Ayub Khan during 1960 until 1967. He initially gained national prominence when he served as the Foreign secretary under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was then Foreign Minister, and took retirement in the opposition of Tashkent Agreement, signed by Ayub Khan to maintain and hold ceasefire with India in 1965. After a power struggle between Mujibur Rehman, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and General Yahya Khan in 1970 which led to disintegration of United Pakistan, Ahmad joined hands with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and served as the Foreign minister of Pakistan. His term was cut short after the successful implementation of military coup d'état, codename Operation Fair Play, and subsequently retired from the civil services after he made strong comments against the military dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. From 1977 until his death in 1982, Ahmed lived a quiet life in Islamabad and died in 1982.