Position : Chairman
Party Affiliation: PML
Tenure: March 2012 to March 2018

Education:

- Bachelor of Arts from Forman Christian College, Lahore.

- Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) from School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
 

Organizations:

• President, Punjab University International Affairs Society, 1973.

• President, Pakistan Students Association in America, 1974-75.

• Co-Chairman, Conference of the Non-Aligned Media (NAMEDIA), 1993.

• Member of Federal Cabinet, served as Minister for Information and Culture, 1997-1999.

• Founder/Chairman, Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), 1998.

• Member, Commission of Eminent Persons, Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), one of 15 persons nominated by their respective governments to reform the OIC, 2004-05.

• Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2004-2009.

• Secretary General, Pakistan Muslim League, 2005 onwards.

• Elected Member of Eminent Persons Group of Think-Tanks of the Islamic World, during meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2012.

• Chairman, Pakistan-China Institute, 2009 onwards.

• Secretary General, Centrist Asia-Pacific Democrat International (CAPDI).

• Special Rapporteur, International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP).

Award and Honours:

• Received 2013 Tsinghua University Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Public Diplomacy’ for his role in promoting Pakistan-China people-to-people relations, August 31, 2013.

• President Xi Jinping personally conferred the prestigious ‘Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award’ at Islamabad on April 20, 2015.

• Awarded Congressional internship by the US Congress in Washington, Summer of 1974.

• Represented Georgetown University at the prestigious Student Conference on US Affairs (SCUSA), US Military Academy, West Point, November 1973, and the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference (NAFAC), April 1974.

• Youngest Editor at age 29, of any major national English daily in the region, as Editor of “The Muslim”.

• Leader of Pakistan Delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, Geneva, 1993.

• Declared ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ by Amnesty International, world’s leading human rights organization as political prisoner without any charge for 440 days.

• Awarded the Congressional Medal of Achievement by the House of Representation of the Republic of Philippines, January 2006.

• Awarded Honorary Doctorate by the Royal Academy of Cambodia in Political Science, 2010.

• Awarded The Star of Achievement for Service to Humanity by the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), 2011.

• Received highest Cambodian award, Grand Order of the Kingdom of Cambodia, for contribution to Asian causes, May 2011.
 

Current Status:

• Author of 3 books on Pakistan’s Foreign Policy and domestic politics as well as issues of governance.

• Currently a Senator, Member of Parliament. Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence and Defence Production.