A diplomat shaped by service, scholarship, and statecraft.
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry has spent more than four decades representing Pakistan — at the United Nations, in Washington, in The Hague, and at the helm of his country’s Foreign Office.
Early life and education
Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry was born on 27 February 1958. He completed his schooling at PAF Public School Sargodha — an institution known for shaping disciplined minds — before earning a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Punjab.
He went on to read International Relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States, where he received his Master of Arts. Fletcher’s blend of scholarship and policy practice would mark his approach for the decades to follow.
A life in the Foreign Service
Chaudhry joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1980. Over a 37-year career he served in Doha, Washington, New York, and The Hague, and in successive senior assignments at the Foreign Office in Islamabad, including Director General for South Asia, Additional Foreign Secretary for the United Nations and disarmament affairs, and Spokesperson of the Ministry.
He represented Pakistan at the United Nations for over six years, including a term as Deputy Permanent Representative in New York. He served as Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands from 2009 to 2012, and was promoted to Grade 22 before becoming the 28th Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in December 2013. In February 2017 he was appointed Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, a post he held until May 2018.
Beyond government
From June 2018 to December 2021 he served as Director General of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), one of Pakistan’s leading foreign policy think tanks. He continues to write, lecture, and comment on international affairs — most visibly through a regular column in Dawn and frequent television, podcast, and conference appearances.
A note on resilience
Diagnosed with cancer earlier in his career, Chaudhry underwent treatment in the Netherlands, New York, and Pakistan, and recovered in 2016. He has spoken publicly about the experience to encourage early detection and to remind others that the illness is curable.