| Sahabzada Yaqub Khan | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | SYAK |
| Born | December 23, 1920 Rampur, British India |
| Allegiance | Pakistan |
| Service/branch | Pakistan Army (PA – 136) |
| Years of service | 1940–1971 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Unit | 18th Cavalry, Army Armoured Corps |
| Commands held | Vice Chief of General Staff (VCGS) 1st Armoured Division, Multan Command and Staff College, Quetta Chief of General Staff (CGS) Eastern Military High Command, East Pakistan |
| Battles/wars | Siege of Tobruk Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War |
| Other work | Statesman |
Lieutenant-General Sahibzada (Prince) Yaqub Ali Khan (Urdu: صاحبزادہ یعقوب خان; born 23 December 1920) is a retired 3 star rank general in the Pakistan Army who the was the international face of Pakistan for three decades. He served as Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1982 to 1991 during the dying days of Cold War and then caretaker Foreign Minister from 1996 to 1997. Before the ministerial assignments, he was Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, former Soviet Union and France from 1972 to 1982. He was a central player in the UN negotiations to end the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan. He was later Pakistan's UN Representative. He also served as the UN's point man in negotiating an end to the Civil War in Nicaragua. His three star assignments includes serving as Unified Commander of Eastern Military High Command, Vice Chief of Generals Staff, and Commandant of Command and Staff College.
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Sahabzada Yaqub Khan is a member of the royal family of the erstwhile Indian princely state of Rampur.[1] His father, Sahibzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan Bahadur, was a statesman and diplomat who at various points in his career served as chief minister of the state of Rampur, and as British India's representative to the League of Nations.
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan studied at the famous Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun. After graduating, he served in North Africa during World War II as a lieutenant in the British Indian Army, taking part in the Siege of Tobruk. He was taken prisoner in 1942, and spent the next three years in an Axis prisoner-of-war camp before being released at the end of the war. After independence, he opted for Pakistan, where he went on to enjoy a distinguished career in the Pakistani Army. Rising to the rank Lieutenant General, Yaqub Khan served as Chief of General Staff, Commander Eastern Command, and briefly after the resignation of Vice Admiral S.M. Ahsan, Governor of East Pakistan.
On retiring from the Army he embarked on a career as a diplomat, serving as Ambassador to France, the United States and Soviet Union from 1972 to 1982. Since 1982 he served as Foreign Minister under seven different governments. Then from 1992 until 1997 Yaqub Khan was the United Nations Secretary General's Special Representative for the Western Sahara.
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan is the founding chairman of the Aga Khan University Board of Trustees, which he chaired for almost two decades until his retirement in 2001.[2] He was a commissioner in the now retired Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict.[3]
Sahabzada Yaqub Khan is married to Begum Tuba Khaleeli, of the prominent Iranian Khaleeli family of Calcutta, and has two sons, Samad and Najib.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sher Bahadur |
Chief of General Staff 1966 – 1969 |
Succeeded by Gul Hassan Khan |
| Preceded by LGen Kamal Mutinuddin |
Unified Commander of Eastern Military High Command 23 August 1969 – 1 September 1968 |
Succeeded by MGen Muzaffaruddin |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Muzaffaruddin |
Martial Law Administrator, Zone B (East Pakistan) 1969 – 1971 |
Succeeded by Tikka Khan |
| Preceded by Muzaffaruddin |
Governor of East Pakistan 1969 |
Succeeded by Syed Mohammad Ahsan |
| Preceded by Syed Mohammad Ahsan |
Governor of East Pakistan 1971 |
Succeeded by Tikka Khan |
| Preceded by Agha Shahi |
Foreign Minister of Pakistan 1982 – 1991 |
Succeeded by Abdul Sattar |
| Preceded by Aseff Ahmad Ali |
Foreign Minister of Pakistan (caretaker) 1996 – 1997 |
Succeeded by Gohar Ayub Khan |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Sultan Muhammad Khan |
Pakistan Ambassador to the United States 1973 – 1979 |
Succeeded by Sultan Muhammad Khan |