Farooq Sobhan (born 17 September 1940) is a former Bangladeshi diplomat and civil society leader. He served in various capacities in the Bangladesh government and foreign service as one of the leading diplomats of the country. He was Bangladesh's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (1987–1990) and High Commissioner to the Federation of Malaysia (1984–1987) and the Republic of India (1992–1995) as well as the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh (1995–1997), the highest ranking diplomat in the country. He also served as the Chairman of the Board of Investment in with rank and status of a State Minister. Presently, Farooq Sobhan is the President of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, a renowned private think-tank in the country that focuses on private sector development.
Farooq Sobhan was born in 1940 in Calcutta during British rule into an elite Bengali Muslim family. He attended Oxford University and obtained a Masters of Arts degree there before joining the Foreign Service of Pakistan. Farooq Sobhan is also the younger brother of Professor Rehman Sobhan, an eminent South Asian economist who is also famous for his contribution to the freedom struggle of Bangladesh during the War of Liberation.
Farooq Sobhan was the principal challenger to Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon when McKinnon stood for election at the 1999 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.[1] He stood on a platform of changing the emphasis of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group from infringements on the Commonwealth's democratic principles to 'any economic or environmental crisis'.[2] The result of the vote (which remains secret), is said to have been thirty-six votes for McKinnon to sixteen for Sobhan, although, continuing the pattern set for Chief Emeka Anyaoku at the 1989 CHOGM, the result was announced as 'unanimous'.[1]