| Sardar Asif Ahmad Ali | |
|---|---|
| 18th Foreign Minister of Pakistan | |
| In office November 16, 1993 – November 4, 1996 |
|
| Preceded by | Farooq Leghari |
| Succeeded by | Sahabzada Yaqub Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf |
| Alma mater | Government College University St John's College, Cambridge |
| Religion | Islam |
Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali is a Pakistani politician from an influential landowning family. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Kasur in 1994[1] and has remained active in political and campaigning theatres. In 2004, he formally joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
He opposed Pervez Musharraf's firing of Pakistan's judiciary.[2] He served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the National Government led by the PPP from 1993 to 1996. On 25th December 2011, he joined Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
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He hails from a principal Arain family of the Punjab, whose role in politics in this region precedes the British rule in India. The family has a reputation of repelling authority and was instrumental in fighting against the Sikhs and later the British. His uncle, Sardar Muhammad Hussain, remained a member of parliament pre- and post-partition and pioneered the advent of the Pakistan Muslim League in Central Punjab. His father, Sardar Ahmad Ali, who also remained a member of parliament throughout his career, and Sardar Muhammad Hussain led regional movements against the Unionist Party, which was patronised by the British. The first mammoth public rally for and on behalf of the Muslim League under Muhammad Ali Jinnah was held near his ancestral village, Ganja Kalan, at Kasur, Punjab. As a result of the partition, the family lost vast tracts of agricultural land near the Satluj River, Kasur. As he belongs to the Arain tribe, his ancestry goes back to a prominent family of the famous Arab tribe Banu Tamim.[3] The family is considered as the chief family of the influential Arains. They are related to the Mian family of Burj Jeway Khan (near Okara) and the Daula family of Dipalpur.
He studied at Lawrence College in Ghora Gali. He earned a B.A. (Hons.) degree from Government College University, Lahore (1959–62), and a B.A (Hons.) degree from St. John's College, Oxford (1963–1966).[4] Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali was a senior member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. He was the foreign minister of Pakistan in the cabinet of Benazir Bhutto during her second tenure as Prime Minister. Recently he resighned from Pakistan Peoples Party and Join Party of Imran Khan former crickter Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
Sardar Aseff also served as the Minister for Economic Affairs during the 1991-1993 Nawaz Sharif government, but resigned from the cabinet after developing differences with the Prime Minister. His resignation along with those of other members of parliament eventually led to overthrow of the first Nawaz Sharif government. While serving as the Economic Affairs Minister, Sardar Aseff led numerous delegations of Pakistani civil society members and organizations to Russia and cultivated business and diplomatic relationships with various disintegrated states of the former Soviet Union. He was awarded honorary citizenship of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
As Foreign Minister of Pakistan, he was unanimously elected chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
In 2003, he held a painting exhibition at Lahore, where he displayed some of his hand-drawn sketches and paintings, which was attended by then-Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
In the recently held general elections, he was returned to the National Assembly for the fifth time after defeating his archrival, the outgoing foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Farooq Leghari |
Foreign Minister of Pakistan 1993 – 1996 |
Succeeded by Sahabzada Yaqub Khan |