The Foreign Service of Pakistan () is part of the

Central Superior Services The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

in 1947. Its old name was ''Foreign Service of India'' working within the

Indian Civil Service (British India) The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

before 1947. After 1947, its recruitment and hiring of employees is done through the larger organization

Civil Service of Pakistan The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

. Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan (Urdu: محمد ظفر اللہ خان; 6 February 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first

Foreign Minister of Pakistan The Minister for Foreign Affairs (or simply the Foreign Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan. The minister oversees the federal government's foreign policy and International relations. Their resp ...

. After serving as foreign minister he continued his international career and is the only Pakistani to preside over the International Court of Justice. He also served as the President of the UN General Assembly. He is the only person to date to serve as the President of both

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

and the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

History

Foreign Service of Pakistan was constituted on an ad hoc basis immediately on the birth of Pakistan. The Service was first given an executive fiat in a decision of the Federal Cabinet in July 1948. A formal resolution constituting the service was announced in October 1952. It envisaged diplomatic posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Diplomatic and consular missions of Pakistan abroad. The resolution provided for the posts of (a) Secretary (1), (b) Joint Secretaries (2), (c) Deputy Secretaries (8), and (d) Under Secretaries (16). Posts for Pakistan Diplomatic Missions abroad provided for Ambassadors (17), High Commissioners (5), Ministers (4), Commissioners (1), Deputy High Commissioners (2), Counselors (15), First Secretaries (10), Second Secretaries (19), Third Secretaries (31), Consul General (3), Consul (4), and Vice Consul (7). Between 1952 and 1960, the cadre strength was constantly kept under review and was enlarged by executive orders in view of the expanding requirements. However, shortage of personnel continued to plague the service. The total strength of the officers gradually increased both at the Headquarters and the Missions. In 1972, the total strength of the officers at the Headquarters and the Missions grew to 323. At present there are 403 officers both at the Headquarters and in our Missions. The entry into the former Foreign Service of Pakistan through examination began in 1948. The Recruitment to the Officers cadre (Foreign Service of Pakistan) is through the competitive examination conducted annually by the

Federal Public Service Commission The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) () is a federal agency of Government of Pakistan that is responsible for recruiting civil servants and bureaucrats for Government of Pakistan. History The Public Service Commission was set up for ...

(FPSC) of Pakistan. ''Foreign Service of Pakistan'' is among the top three groups along with ''Pakistan Administrative Service'' and ''Police Service of Pakistan''.A guide to the Civil Service of Pakistan: Want to change Pakistan? Try joining the government as an honest bureaucrat
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 25 April 2011, Retrieved 15 November 2017 The Establishment Division in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announces annually the number of vacancies of officers in the Foreign Affairs Group, which vary from year to year. Officers of the Foreign Service of Pakistan undergo common training at the

Civil Services Academy Situated in Lahore, Pakistan, the Civil Services Academy Lahore is an academy for the training of young bureaucrats who are commissioned by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) through a very competitive Central Superior Services exam, ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

and later are given six months specialized training at the Foreign Service Academy,

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

. The officers also undergo language learning trainings at various prestigious universities/institutions abroad to learn different languages including

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, French,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, Chinese,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, Portuguese,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

etc. Fully funded Language scholarships offered by other countries are also availed. The Ministry thus has a rich reservoir of officers who are well versed in different languages. ''Foreign Service of Pakistan'' is a cadre that runs the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (, ''Wazarat-e-Kharja'', abbreviated as MoFA) is a Ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of Pakistan tasked in managing Pakistan's diplomatic and consular relations as well as its foreign po ...

as well as Pakistan's Embassies/High Commissions/Consulates in other countries of the world.

Ranks

After the initial training period, junior officers join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad and serve in the political, administrative or protocol wings. Or rather begin their diplomatic careers abroad. Rise in ranks at headquarters and missions are: Headquarters: Assistant Director BPS-17 Deputy Director BPS-18 Director BPS-19 Director General BPS-20 Additional/Special Secretary BPS-21 Secretary (head of Deptt.) BPS-22 Missions Abroad: Third Secretary/Vice Consul BS-17 Second Secretary/Consul BS-18 First Secretary/Deputy Consul General BS-19 Consul General/Ambassador/High Commissioner Trivial Areas BS-20 Ambassador/High Commissioner Important Areas BS-21 Note: Consuls General and other envoys toward low political profile missions and are lower by virtue of rank as well and can be compared with DGs. Ambassadors and High Commissioners toward high profile nations however rank higher and are Special Secretaries; equivalent of administrative Additional Secretaries in national headquarters. Envoy of one Commonwealth country to another is termed High Commissioner.

Progress of women as diplomats

As a result of ''Administrative Reforms of 1972'' under

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

regime, Foreign Service of Pakistan was opened even much more to women in Pakistan after 1973.Women in diplomacy
Pakistan Today (newspaper), Published 8 March 2012, Retrieved 17 November 2017 Here are some of the distinguished women diplomats: * Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan (Ambassador to

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) ( 1954 – 1961) *

Hina Rabbani Khar Hina Rabbani Khar (born 19 November 1974) is a Pakistanis, Pakistani politician who served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (Pakistan), Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 19 April 2022 to 10 August 2023. She previously served as ...

(Served as the top diplomat in Foreign Service of Pakistan,

) (2011 – 2013) *

Sherry Rehman Shehrbano "Sherry" Rehman (; born 21 December 1960) is a Pakistani politician and journalist who has been the member of the Senate of Pakistan since 2015. She was the first female Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from March to August 2018 ...

(Ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) (2011 – 2013) * Tehmina Janjua (First Woman Foreign Secretary) (February 2017 to April 2019) * Maleeha Lodhi (Ambassador 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 ...

) (2015 – 2019)

References

External links

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan - official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Service Of Pakistan

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Foreign relations of Pakistan Pakistan, Foreign Service Civil service of Pakistan Pakistan federal departments and agencies