Our colleague and friend Aslam Khan was an outstanding diplomat who served Pakistan in different capacities with distinction. We were in Quaid-i-Azam University at the same time where he did masters in economics and I studied international relations. His was a tough subject, so could not spare much time to socialize, dispite us living in the same hostel. We did vote for same stu­dents association. He joined the foreign service in 1983 and I followed him a year later. We stayed in the foreign office’s hos­tel on Margalla Road. It was great stroll­ing on Margalla Road after dinner on a regular basis, and exchanging views on different issues. He was an intellectual par excellence with ability to talk and write on any subject. I cannot forget his kindness when I was applying for getting Ministry’s nomination in 1987 to attend a summer course in Germany. I was re­quired to write two eassys in a day. I was pressed for time. He came to my room just to check how things were going. As he saw I was struggling, he picked up one topic to write for me without me request­ing. He came back in 30 minutes with an excellent three page essay. Next morning, I submitted my eassys to the Ministry and in one month’s time I reached Kiel University to attend the course. His ana­lytical ability and the skills to write on any subject earned him great reputation over the years among his peers in the foreign service and foreign diplomats in the mis­sions. Since he secured the top position in the foreign service batch, he got a chal­lenging first assignment to Geneva. Actu­ally, as desk officer personnel, I made the proposal for his posting on the sugges­tion of acting director personnel Amir Shadani. In a very short time Aslam Khan earned a good name for himself in Ge­neva. He worked under a tough task mas­ter, Ambassador Ahmad Kamal, who gave him “outstanding” confidential reports. I worked under the same Ambassador in New York a decade later. We soon realised that it was not easy to get outstanding re­ports from him. One day, when he was in a relaxed mood, I asked Ambassador Ka­mal how did he find Aslam Khan. He said, “Aslam was a great human being and a top class professional”.

Throughout our professional career, we remained in close contact and benefitted from each other’s knowledge and experi­ence. Our last posting in the Ministry as additional secretaries was interesting, despite some administrative challenges. Aslam Khan went on his ambassadorial assignment to Kuwait, and a year later, I went to my last ambassadorial post­ing to Brazil. We retired from our posts almost around the same time. Thanks to WhatsApp communication facility, we re­mained in touch on a daily basis to share our experiences and seeking advice on different matters. I must admit that Aslam Khan was not a worldly man; never cared for money and property. His only focus was giving good education to his children. Lately, I kept on insisting that he should return to Islamabad, or visit once, to sort out his pension matters and purchase an apartment close to where we live. Due to his work related commitment in Kuwait, he could not visit Islamabad. He left Is­lamabad for his posting to Kuwait nine years ago through passenger lounge of Islamabad airport, but he returned home on 17th March 2024 through the cargo terminal of the same airport. A depress­ing state of affairs. We surrender to the will of Allah the Almighty.

AMBASSADOR BURHANUL ISLAM

–The writer is a career foreign service officer who retired as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Brazil