Saturday, August 9, 2025

JAMSHEED MARKER EX-AMBASSADOR, November 24, 2018 (2018-9)

 

Educated at the Doon School, Dehra Dun, and Forman Christian College, Lahore, Graduated as a Gold Medalist with an Honors Degree in Economics from the University of the Punjab.

DIPLOMATIC CAREER

Appointed as Ambassador of Pakistan in 1965, and since served continuously abroad in that capacity in eleven different capitals, with concurrent accreditation to a further nine countries.

September 2004 to December 2007

Ambassador at Large, Government of Pakistan

July 2000 to December 2004

Special adviser to the Secretary General, United Nations, for East Timor, with the rank of Under Secretary General.

February 1997 to Jun 2000

Personal Representative of the Secretary General, United Nations, for East Timor, with the rank of Under Secretary General. Conducted negotiations, as representative of the United Nations, with the governments of Indonesia and Portugal, with East Timorese leaders, which led to the successful referendum in August 1999, enabling the eventual independence of East Timor.

May 1995 to December 1996

Member, Efficiency Board, the United Nations, New York.

September 1995 to June 2004

Diplomat in residence, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg Florida. Director in various corporations in Pakistan.

September 1990 to March 1995.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, New York. Chairman of the Group of 77 for 1992. Led negotiations on behalf of the Group of 77 (consisting of 128 developing countries) the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, June 1992. Permanent Representative of Pakistan, Member of the Security Council, January 1993 to December 1994. President of the UN Security Council, April 1993. President of the UN Security Council, July 1994.

July 1989 to August 1990.

Distinguished Fellow, the United States institute of Peace, Washington D.C. Diplomat in Residence, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida. Director of business corporations in Pakistan.

September 1986 to June 1989.

Ambassador of Pakistan to the United State of America, with concurrent accreditation to Jamaica. Maintained close co-ordination with the U.S. Administration and Congress on a number of important issues Including negotiations over the Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan. (Please see article in the New York Times, 1 September 1988, attached).

1982 to1986.

Ambassador of Pakistan to France, with concurrent accreditation to Ireland Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Paris.

Negotiated credit agreements in defense purchases, training and technology. transfer. Close political contacts on the Afghan issue. Travelled extensively in the country on speaking engagements. Maintained personal ties with important personalities at the Elysee, the Matignon, Quald'Orsay and the National Assembly.

1980 to 1982.

Ambassador of Pakistan to the Federal Republic of Germany. Negotiated credit agreements. Maintained close contacts on the Afghanistan issue, including the organization of refugee aid and assistance. Travelled extensively in the country.

1979 to 1980.

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the European Office of the United Nations in Geneva.

Represented Pakistan on the Committee on Disarmament, the Council for the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), as well as the UN Specialized Agencies based in Geneva, ILO, WHO, WMO, WIPO, UNHCR, Chaired a number of committees, particularly in the Disarmament Committee, specializing in nuclear issues, and in UNCTAD, specializing in financial issues and the problems of international debt.

1976 to 1978.

Ambassador of Pakistan to Japan. Negotiated two annual yen credits, and numerous joint ventures in the private sector.

1973 to 1976.

Ambassador of Pakistan to the German Democratic Republic, with concurrent accreditation to Iceland. Opened the Pakistan Embassy in East Berlin, negotiated trade and aviation agreements with the G.D.R.

1972 to 1973.

Ambassador of Pakistan to Canada, with concurrent accreditation to Guyana, Trindad & Tobago.

1969 to 1972.

Ambassador of Pakistan to the U.S.S.R., with concurrent accreditation to Finland. Negotiated the agreement for the establishment of the only steel mill in Pakistan. Travelled extensively in the Soviet Union, organized the state visits of President Yahya Khan to the Soviet Union in 1970, and of President Bhutto in 1972, Participated in frequent and extensive diplomatic negotiations in the Kremlin, particularly with Prime Minister Alexel Kosygin, during the crisis leading to the emergence of Bangladesh.

Negotiated with the East German diplomats in Moscow for the establishment of diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic.

1967 to 1969.

Ambassador of Pakistan to Romania, with concurrent accreditation to Bulgaria. Organized the state visit of President Ayub Khan to Romania in 1967.

1965 to 1967.

High Commissioner of Pakistan to Ghana, with concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to Guinea and Mali. Travelled extensively throughout West Africa, and expanded relations between Pakistan and the newly independent Anglophone and Francophone West African nations, from the diplomatic field to cooperation in commercial, economic, cultural and military affairs.

MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS.

Apart from duties as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, was also a member of the Pakistan delegation to the General Assembly of the United Nations on a number of occasions, was also a member of the Pakistan delegation to the Non Aligned Movement Conference in Havana in 1979, and to the organization of the Islamic Conference in Islamabad in 1980.

While based in Geneva, Paris and Washington, was closely involved with the negotiations which led to the Genva Accord 1988, and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.

Member of an unofficial group of experts assembled by the Arms Control Association and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace at Divonne, France, in September 1974, which produced a report entitled "N.P.T. Paradoxes and Problems".

Appointed by the Secretary General, United Nations, to a group of experts on a Comprehensive Study on Nulear Weapons, vide General Assembly Resolution 33/91 D of 16 December 1978. Co-author of the Report dated 12 July 1980 Entitled * Nuclear Weapons: Report to the Secretary General".

BUSINESS CAREER

1946 to 1965

Joined the family business in 1946 in Quetta, Balouchistan and Karachi, Sindh, and became a director of a number of corporations which included shipping, pharmaceuticals, banking and insurance. Took an active interest in industrial labour relations, and was a member of the Pakistan delegation to several conferences of the International Labour Organization, Geneva. Was also a well known radio cricket commentator in Pakistan.

1942 to 1945.

Served in the Royal India Navy in World War II in convoy escort duties, commanded a magnetic minesweeper, and look part in combined operations in Burma. Served as a Group Testing Officer on the Naval Selection Board.

AWARDS.

Service Awards:

1939/45 Star, Burma Star, War Service Medal.

Civil Awards:

Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam by the Government of Pakistan, 1971.

Madarski Konnik by the Government of Bulgaria, 1986.

Grand Officer dei Order de Merit, by the Government of France, 1986.

Order of San Carios in the Degree of the Great Cross, by the Government of Columbia, 1993.

Hilal-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan, 2004.

Married to Diana Dinshaw (expired 1979), and Amaz Minwalla. Two daughters, Niloufer Marker Reifler and Feroza Marker (expired 2001).

Interests and occupations include music and opera, literature, sports and art, especially contemporary Pakistani paintings. One of the early circket commantators for Radio Pakistan.

Languages: Urdu, Gujarati, English, French, German and Russian.

PUBLICATIONS

East Timor. A Memoir of the Negotations for Independance. Mc Farland & Co. Jefferson. North Carolina.

Quiet Diplomacy. Memoirs of an Ambassador of Pakistan. Oxford University Press, Karachi.

The American Papers. Co-authored with Roedad Khan. Oxford University Press Karachi. Coverpoint. Impressions of Leadership in Pakistan.

On Jamsheed Markar, Ex Ambassador of Pakistan (1922-2018), a Commemorative Postage Stamp of Rs.8/- denomination is being issued by Pakistan Post on November 24, 2018.

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