Santosh pathak at 07:07, 26 March 2026

2026-03-26T07:07:35Z

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{{Short description|Bangladeshi diplomat}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
|image =Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Brussels 2008 portrait.jpg
|caption = Chowdhury at the European Union in [[Brussels]] (2008)

|office = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
|term_start = 2007
|term_end = 2008
|predecessor = [[Iajuddin Ahmed]]
|successor = [[Dipu Moni]]

|office1=[[Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations]]
|term_start1=2001
|term_end1=2007
|predecessor1=[[Anwarul Karim Chowdhury]]
|successor1=[[Ismat Jahan]]

|office2=Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar
|term_start2=2 July 1994
|term_end2=14 December 1996
|predecessor2=Kazi Nazrul Islam
|successor2=Abdul Aziz<ref>{{Cite web |title=Former ambassadors|url=https://doha.mofa.gov.bd/en/site/page/former-ambassadors|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250908035019/https://doha.mofa.gov.bd/en/site/page/former-ambassadors |archive-date=2025-09-08 |access-date=2025-11-14 |website=doha.mofa.gov.bd |language=en}}</ref>

|birth_date = 25 October 1946
|birth_place = [[Dhaka District|Dacca District]],{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} [[British India]]
|alma_mater={{ubl|[[Australian National University]]|[[University of Dhaka]]}}
}}

'''Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury''' is a former Bangladesh Advisor (Minister) [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|of Foreign Affairs]] (2007–2009), a position he held after a long career in diplomacy and the Civil Service, starting in Pakistan in 1969, thereafter transferring to Bangladesh after the nation gained independence in 1971.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-07-02 |title=Kosovo issue being mooted |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-43843 |access-date=2023-03-13 |work=The Daily Star |agency=UNB |language=en}}</ref>

Chowdhury's contributions as a global diplomat were recognized by the New York City Council; he was named as "One of the World's Leading Diplomatic Leaders". He was also awarded a Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul the Second.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-07-02 |title=One of the world's leading diplomatic leaders and Knighthood Award |url=https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/honorary_senior/iftekhar-ahmed-chowdhury/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |work=NUS Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) |agency=NUS |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=APLN Network Members: Iftekhar Ahmed CHOWDHURY |url=https://www.apln.network/members/bangladesh/iftekhar-ahmed-chowdhury/bio |access-date=2024-10-22 |work=The Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN) |agency=APLN |language=en}}</ref>

==Education==
Chowdhury obtained an MA and Ph.D., both in International Relations at the [[Australian National University]] in Canberra,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury |url=https://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/honorary_fellow/iftekhar-ahmed-chowdhury/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=www.isas.nus.edu.sg}}</ref> having stood First in First Class in Political Science Honours at the [[University of Dhaka]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=IFTEKHAR AHMED CHOWDHURY (BANGLADESH) CHAIRMAN OF SECOND COMMITTEE {{!}} UN Press |url=https://press.un.org/en/2003/bio3529.doc.htm |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=press.un.org}}</ref>

==Career==
In Bangladesh's pre-independence period, he had stood first in then-East Pakistan in the Superior Civil service examination, and joined the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1969.<ref name="cosmos">{{Cite web |title=Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury |url=https://cosmosfoundation.org/dt_team/dr-iftekhar-ahmed-chowdhury/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Cosmos Foundation |date=2 December 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> He received his training in the Civil Service Academy in Lahore and began his administrative career as an assistant commissioner (probationer) in Abbottabad, in the North-West Frontiers of Pakistan (today's Khaybar Pakhtunkhwa).

Chowdhury's diplomatic career took him to Bonn, Doha, Geneva, and New York. During his longtime postings as Ambassador to the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) and to the United Nations (UN), he had been chairman of the WTO Council on Trade Policy Review,<ref name=":0" /> WTO Committee on Trade and Development, president of the Conference on Disarmament, chairman of the Committee for Social Development and chairman of the UN Information Committee, chairman of the Population and Development Commission, and chairman of the Committee on Social Development.

Upon secondment to the United Nations in 2000, Chowdhury was appointed Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the [[UN Trade and Development|UN Conference on Trade and Development]] (UNCTAD) at its headquarters in Geneva.<ref name=":1" /> In that capacity he assisted Secretary General Rubens Ricupero in organizing the Third UN Conference on Least Developed Countries that took place in Brussels that year. He was appointed the chairman of the UN Second (Economic Committee) in 2003.<ref name=":1" /> He had been associated with the UN Reforms process as a "facilitator" appointed by the president of the UN General Assembly. He was also responsible for conducting negotiations on the paragraphs on principles of the responsibility to protect in the "Outcome Document" on UN Reforms approved by global leaders in 2005.

When, following a political crisis in Bangladesh, a caretaker government was formed in January 2007, Iftekhar Chowdhury was sworn in as the foreign minister in the Fakhruddin Ahmed cabinet.<ref name=":0" /> He was also put in charge of two additional ministries, Overseas Employment and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Dispute Settlement |url=https://archive.thedailystar.net/2006/2007/06/01/d7060101096.htm |access-date=2023-03-13 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

In November 2008, there was a flare-up with Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. A cabinet committee, helmed by Chowdhury, took a strong decision to send a naval patrol of four warships, forcing Myanmar to withdraw two of its vessels from disputed waters, ending a four-day stand off that almost brought the two neighbours into a serious armed conflict.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-11-12 |title=Bangladesh, Myanmar hold talks to defuse sea row |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSDHA391398 |access-date=2023-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Myanmar withdrawal a 'win-win' outcome: Iftekhar |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/myanmar-withdrawal-a-win-win-outcome-iftekhar |access-date=2023-03-13 |work=bdnews24.com |language=en}}</ref>

=== Career after government ===
Following the change of government in 2009, Chowdhury took to a career in the academia. He joined the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the [[National University of Singapore]] (NUS)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chowdhury |first=Iftekhar Ahmed |date=2019-06-08 |title=Duel at the Shangri-La dialogue: Implications for us all |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/perspective/news/duel-the-shangri-la-dialogue-implications-us-all-1753744 |access-date=2023-03-13 |work=The Daily Star |type=Opinion |language=en}}</ref> as the principal research fellow, where he remained till 2020, then becoming an Honorary Fellow. He also taught at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the [[Nanyang Technological University]] (NTU), and at the [[Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy]] in Singapore.

Chowdhury is on the advisory board of the New York-based [[Global Center on Cooperative Security]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-26 |title=Our Leadership - Global Center on Cooperative Security |url=https://www.globalcenter.org/our-leadership/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |website=Global Center on Cooperative Security - Building stronger partnerships for a more secure world |language=en}}</ref> He has been attending the sessions of the [[Astana Club]], a group of eminent global leaders annually hosted by President [[Nursultan Nazarbayev]] of [[Kazakhstan]], and of the Beijing-based World Peace Forum.

In October 2020, he joined the private sector, when he assumed the post of senior group advisor of Meinhardt International, a multidisciplinary engineering and designing multinational firm headquartered in Singapore.<ref name="cosmos" /> He remained in that position for two years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mohan |first1=C. Raja |last2=Singh |first2=Hernaikh |title=Coping With China-india Rivalry: South Asian Dilemmas |date=4 January 2023 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-12-6373-6 |page=122 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Coping_With_China_india_Rivalry_South_As/f7mtEAAAQBAJ?gbpv=1&pg=PA122}}</ref> He is a member of the Association of Former BCS (FA) Ambassadors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Members' List – AOFA |url=https://aofabd.com/members-list/ |access-date=2023-03-13 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Chowdhurys eldest brother [[Faruq Ahmed Choudhury]] was a foreign secretary, second brother [[Enam Ahmed Choudhury]] was secretary, and another brother is former ambassador [[Masum Ahmed Choudhury]].<ref name=":2" /> A brother-in-law (freedom fighter Lieutenant colonel [[Syed Abdul Hai]]) was one of the highest -level Bangladeshi Army officers to have been killed during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref name=":2" />
His youngest sister, Nina Ahmed, married [[Fakhruddin Ahmed]], former chief adviser to the 2007-08 caretaker government.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=2017-05-18 |title=Faruq Ahmed Choudhury passes away |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/faruk-ahmed-passes-away-1406893 |access-date=2021-12-02 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Iftekhar Ahmed}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Sylhet District]]
[[Category:St. Gregory's High School and College alumni]]
[[Category:Notre Dame College, Dhaka alumni]]
[[Category:University of Dhaka alumni]]
[[Category:Australian National University alumni]]
[[Category:Permanent representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Qatar]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the Holy See]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Chile]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Peru]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Advisers of caretaker governments of Bangladesh]]

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury - Revision history

Santosh pathak at 07:07, 26 March 2026