Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is a former Bangladesh Advisor (Minister) of Foreign Affairs (2007-2009), a position he held after a long career in diplomacy and the Civil Service, starting in Pakistan in 1969, thereafter transferring to Bangladesh after the nation gained independence in 1971. Chowdhury’s contributions as a global diplomat were recognized by the New York City Council; he was named as "One of the World’s Leading Diplomatic Leaders". He was also awarded a Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul the Second.

Education

Chowdhury obtained an MA and Ph.D., both in International Relations at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in Canberra, having stood First in First Class in Political Science Honours at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

Career

In Bangladesh’s pre-independence period, he had stood first in then-East Pakistan in the Superior Civil service examination, and joined the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1969. He received his training in the Civil Service Academy in Lahore and began his administrative career as an assistant commissioner (probationer) in Abbottabad, in the North-West Frontiers of Pakistan (today’s Khaybar Pakhtunkhwa). Chowdhury’s diplomatic career took him to Bonn, Doha, Geneva, and New York. During his longtime postings as Ambassador to the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

(WTO) and to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN), he had been chairman of the WTO Council on Trade Policy Review, WTO Committee on Trade and Development, president of the Conference on Disarmament, chairman of the Committee for Social Development and chairman of the UN Information Committee, chairman of the Population and Development Commission, and chairman of the Committee on Social Development. Upon secondment to the

in 2000, Chowdhury was appointed Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the

UN Conference on Trade and Development UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the United Nations General Assemb ...

(UNCTAD) at its headquarters in Geneva. In that capacity he assisted Secretary General Rubens Ricupero in organizing the Third UN Conference on Least Developed Countries that took place in Brussels that year. He was appointed the chairman of the UN Second (Economic Committee) in 2003. He had been associated with the UN Reforms process as a ‘’facilitator” appointed by the president of the UN General Assembly. He was also responsible for conducting negotiations on the paragraphs on principles of the responsibility to protect in the "Outcome Document" on UN Reforms approved by global leaders in 2005. When, following a political crisis in Bangladesh, a caretaker government was formed in January 2007, Iftekhar Chowdhury was sworn in as the foreign minister in the Fakhruddin Ahmed cabinet. He was also put in charge of two additional ministries, Overseas Employment and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs. In November 2008, there was a flare-up with Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. A cabinet committee, helmed by Chowdhury, took a strong decision to send a naval patrol of four warships, forcing Myanmar to withdraw two of its vessels from disputed waters, ending a four-day stand off that almost brought the two neighbours into a serious armed conflict. He flew to Myanmar shortly thereafter to discuss the row.

Career after Government

Following the change of government in 2009, Chowdhury took to a career in the academia. He joined the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

(NUS) as the principal research fellow, where he remained till 2020, then becoming an Honorary Fellow. He also taught at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the

Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1981, it is also the second oldest autonomous university in the country. The university is organised across numerous colleges and schools, includi ...

(NTU), and at the

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...

in Singapore. Chowdhury is on the advisory board of the New York-based

Global Center on Cooperative Security The Global Center on Cooperative Security is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit research and policy institute based in New York, Washington D.C., London, Brussels, and Nairobi. The Global Center works to improve multilateral security co ...

. He has been attending the sessions of the Astana Club, a group of eminent global leaders annually hosted by President

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, and of the Beijing-based World Peace Forum. In October 2020, he joined the private sector, when he assumed the post of senior group advisor of Meinhardt International, a multidisciplinary engineering and designing multinational firm headquartered in Singapore. He is a member of the Association of Former BCS (FA) Ambassadors.

Personal life

Chowdhurys eldest brother Faruq Ahmed Choudhury was a foreign secretary, second brother Enam Ahmed Choudhury was secretary, and another brother is former ambassador Masum Ahmed Choudhury. A brother-in-law (freedom fighter Lieutenant colonel Syed Abdul Hai) was one of the highest -level Bangladeshi Army officers to have been killed during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. His youngest sister, Nina Ahmed, married

Fakhruddin Ahmed Fakhruddin Ahmed (; born 1 May 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, civil servant, and a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank. He also served as the 4th Chief Adviser of Caretaker government of Bangladesh. On 12 Janu ...

, former chief adviser to the 2007-08 caretaker government.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Iftekhar Ahmed 1946 births Living people University of Dhaka alumni Australian National University alumni Permanent representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Qatar Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the Holy See Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Chile Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Peru Ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh Advisers of caretaker governments of Bangladesh Notre Dame College, Dhaka alumni St. Gregory's High School and College alumni People from Sylhet District