Our current leadership in Pakistan

PRESIDENT

Dr. Arif Alvi was sworn in as the 13th President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 9th September 2018.

Dr. Arif Alvi was born in 1949 and completed his early education in Karachi. He did his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from De’ Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore where he was declared the “Best Graduate”. He completed his Masters of Science in the field of Prosthodontics from University of Michigan (1975) and in Orthodontics from University of Pacific, San Francisco (1982). He was awarded fellowship ‘Diplomatic American Board of Orthodontists (1995)’.

President Dr. Arif Alvi has been a renowned professional and has held many important positions in the field of Dentistry. He remained Dean of Orthodontics, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan, President, Pakistan Dental Association (1997-2001), Pakistan Association of Orthodontists (2005), Asia Pacific Dental Federation (2006-07) and Councilor of the World Dental Federation (2007-2013). Through his sheer hard work in the World Dental Federation, he was able to get the declaration of 20th March as World Oral Health Day. He is also an author of a book, theses, and many articles.

Dr. Arif Alvi’s political career commenced with his pro-democracy struggle against the dictatorship of General Ayub Khan. He is a founding member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) that came into being in 1996. He remained a member of the PTI’s Central Executive Committee since its inception and has held the offices of PTI President of Sindh (1997-2001), Central Vice President (2001-2006) and Secretary General (2006-2013). In line with Constitution of Pakistan, he resigned from all the positions of PTI before assuming the prestigious office of the President.

During his tenure as the Secretary General of the party, Dr. Arif Alvi introduced social media platform in the politics of Pakistan. He was instrumental in holding intra-party election (2012-2013) and enabled millions of party members to digitally participate in the election process. He was elected as member of National Assembly from Karachi in 2013 and 2018 and was instrumental in drafting and the passage of many bills including one on Alternate Dispute Resolution. He also chaired the sub-committee of EVM’s, Digital Identification of voters and voting of overseas Pakistanis. The latter has finally come to fruition. Dr. Arif Alvi has keen interest in education and health sectors. Provision of basic facilities to the common man and uplifting the country’s image are very close to his heart. He considers people of Pakistan as the most precious asset and, therefore, accords special focus to human resource development in the country. He is happily married and has four children.

PRIME MINISTER

Academic Qualifications

• He was educated at Aitchison College, Lahore and the Royal Grammar School Worcester, England.

• He enrolled in Keble College, Oxford where he did BA (Hons.) in 1975.

Cricket Career

• He made his first-class cricket debut at the age of 16 in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he played for his home teams.

• At the height of his career in 1982, he took over the captaincy of the Pakistan Cricket Team.

• His career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup.

Philanthropy

• During the 1990s, he also served as UNICEF’s Special Representative for Sports and promoted health and immunization programmes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

• By 1991, he had founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organization bearing the name of his mother, Mrs. Shaukat Khanum. It was the first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, raised by him from all over the world.

• On 27 April 2008, he also established a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College. It was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), and is an associate college of the University of Bradford.

Political Career

• On 25 April 1996, he founded a political party, called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He ran for the seat of National Assembly of Pakistan in Pakistani general election 1997 as a candidate of PTI from two constituencies but was unsuccessful and lost both the seats.

• He won his seat and became member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2002 to 2007, and again from 2013 to 2018.

In the 2018 General Elections, he contested on 5 seats and won on all the seats. Overall his party won the majority seats in the National Assembly and hence made the Government on 18 August 2018.

FOREIGN MINISTER


Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has twice served as Minister for Foreign Affairs; from 2008 – 2011 and currently, since August 2018.

A seasoned politician, Foreign Minister Qureshi has engaged at every echelon of politics and governance since he started his political career in 1983 from the District Council, from where he progressed to the Provincial Assembly.

Foreign Minister Qureshi remained a member of the Punjab Assembly for nine years from 1985 to 1993 and has held multiple Ministerial portfolios, serving previously as Minister of Planning and Development and Minister of Finance of the Punjab.

He has also served as Mayor of the city of Multan from 2000 to 2002 and has been elected 5 times as Member National Assembly from Multan in elections held in 1993, 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2018. Foreign Minister Qureshi has also served as the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in the Federal Cabinet from 1993 to 1996.

As Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi envisions a foreign policy that is articulate and principled, ensuring a peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood for development.  He believes in the reinforcement of long-standing relationships and in making new alliances, with Pakistan pursuing a policy of partnerships for peace, security and prosperity.

Born on 22 June 1956, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi hails from Multan in Pakistan, renowned historically as the City of Saints. He traces his lineage to the great Sufi Muslim Saint, Hazrat Ghous Bahauddin Zakariya Sohrawardy Multani (RA) and represents the peace, openness and tolerance enshrined in Islam.

He is an alumnus of Aitchison College, in Lahore, and a Cambridge University graduate where he studied Law & History from Corpus Christi College for a Master’s degree.

Foreign Minister Qureshi is also presently Vice Chairman of political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and an avid agriculturalist.

He is married with two daughters and a son.

FOREIGN SECRETARY

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood is a career Foreign Service officer with diplomatic experience spanning over 3 decades that includes various assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Pakistan’s missions abroad in both bilateral and multilateral arenas.

Prior to his appointment as Foreign Secretary, Ambassador Sohail Mahmood served as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India from August 2017 to April 2019. Earlier, he served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey (with concurrent accreditation to Macedonia and Kosovo) from 2015 to 2017, and as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Thailand & Permanent Representative to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok, from 2009 to 2013.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1985.

At the Headquarters, he worked as Desk Officer for the South Asia region from 1987 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1991. He later worked as Director (Iran and Turkey) from 1995-1998; as Director General (Americas) from 2005-2008; Director General, Foreign Secretary’s Office (FSO) in 2009; and as Additional Secretary (Afghanistan/West Asia) from 2013-2015.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood’s diplomatic assignments abroad also included working at Pakistan’s Missions in Ankara, Washington as well as New York, including as Political Coordinator for Pakistan’s delegation to UN Security Council in 2003-2004.

Ambassador Sohail Mahmood holds a Masters degree in International Affairs (M.I.A.) from the Columbia University, New York, as well as a Masters in History from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.

He is married and has three children.