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.
