Javid Husain

Javid Husain (born 3 March 1944) is a Diplomat, from the Foreign Service of Pakistan, who has had a distinguished career during which he served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands (1992–1995), the Republic of Korea (1995–1997) and Iran (1997–2003).

During his tenure at Tehran, he was also the Pakistan Permanent Representative to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

Javid Husain did his B.A. from Government College, Lahore in 1963 securing the first position in the Punjab University.

He secured his B.A. (Honours) in economics from Government College, Lahore/Punjab University in 1964 and his M.A. in economics from the Punjab University in 1965 with distinctions.

Javid Husain, after his initial training in the Pakistani diplomatic service (1967–1968), served on diplomatic assignments in various capitals of the world (in Europe, Africa, & North America) from 1969 to 1978, before returning to Islamabad, Pakistan to serve at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan) from 1978 to 1981.

From September 1969 to September 1971, he served as Third Secretary in the Embassy of Pakistan, Paris, France.

From September 1971 to September 1974, he served as Third Secretary/Second Secretary in the Embassy of Pakistan, Tripoli, Libya.

From September 1974 to July 1978, he served as First Secretary in the Embassy of Pakistan, Washington, D.C., US

From 1975 to 1978, he attended several seminars on international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University.

Javid Husain is fluent in English, Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi.

He has working knowledge of French, having taken Third and Fourth degree language courses in French from Alliance française in Paris, France.

He is also familiar with Arabic.

From July 1978 to 1980, he served as Director (Afghanistan) in the Pakistan Foreign Office in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Later he served as Director (Foreign Secretary's Office) from 1980 to December 1981.

He then again served on foreign diplomatic assignments (in North America & Asia) from 1982 till 1988, before again returning to Islamabad to serve at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1992.

From January 1982 to April 1985, Javid Husain served as Counsellor and later as Minister in the Pakistan Mission to United Nations, New York City where he represented Pakistan in the UN General Assembly and its Third and First Committees besides several other UN bodies/organs like the Security Council, the Disarmament Commission, the Committee on the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, the Commission on the establishment of nuclear weapon-free zones, and the governing bodies of UNICEF, UNFPA, CERD, etc...

From May 1985 till July 1988, Javid Husain served as Minister/Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Pakistan, Beijing, China.

From July 1988 to May 1991, Javid Husain served as Director General (United Nations and Economic Coordination) at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, Pakistan.

In this role, he supervised all matters relating to the UN and its subsidiary/affiliated organs.

Later, from May 1991 to December 1992, he served as Additional Foreign Secretary/Deputy Foreign Minister supervising both the United Nations and Policy Planning Divisions of the Foreign Office, besides acting as the Official Spokesperson of the Foreign Office.

During this combined period, he represented Pakistan in numerous conferences/meetings of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as bilateral delegations to key countries like USA & China.

These include the following:-

From December 1992, till August 2003, Javid Husain served as an Ambassador of Pakistan to several countries in Europe and Asia.

Ambassador Javid Husain served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands from December 1992 to December 1995.

During this period he also led the Pakistan delegation to the Preparatory Commission for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

From December 1995 to September 1997 he served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to South Korea.

During this period, he was responsible for arranging the bilateral visit of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to South Korea from 22 to 24 July 1996.

In September 1997, he assumed charge as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran where he served till August 2003.

During this period he also served as the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

While posted in Iran, he was responsible for arranging several high-level visits by the leaders of Pakistan and Iran to each other.

In August 1999, Ambassador Javid Husain was promoted to BPS-22, the highest grade in the Pakistan civil service (equivalent in rank to the Foreign Secretary/Vice Foreign Minister).

In August 1999, Ambassador Javid Husain was promoted to BPS-22, the highest grade in the Pakistan civil service (equivalent in rank to the Foreign Secretary/Vice Foreign Minister).

From January 2003 to March 2004, he was the senior most serving officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan.

His last position within the Foreign Service of Pakistan was as the Head/Director-General of the Foreign Service Academy from 2003 to 2004.

Ambassador Javid Husain is also a published author and a regular columnist, with a focus on International relations, Public policy and Economic development.

Currently, he writes frequently for the daily DAWN and the daily The News International newspapers.

Previously, he wrote a fortnightly column for the daily The Nation newspaper.

Currently, Ambassador Javid Husain serves as the president of the Lahore Council for World Affairs.

He is also Chairman of the Mumtaz Husain Benevolent Trust.

From January 2003 till his retirement in March 2004, he was the senior most officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan.