 |
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | |
|---|---|
 Chowdhury at the European Union in Brussels (2008) | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 2007–2008 | |
| Preceded by | Iajuddin Ahmed |
| Succeeded by | Dipu Moni |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 October 1946 Dacca District,[ citation needed ] British India |
Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is a former Caretaker government advisor in charge of Foreign Affairs (2007-2009). [1]
Chowdhury had studied at the St Gregory’s High School and Notre Dame college in Dhaka,obtaining High First Division in Matriculation and Intermediate of Arts public examinations. He obtained a MA and PhD,both in International Relations,at the Australian National University in Canberra, [2] having stood First in First Class in Political Science Honours at the University of Dhaka. [3]
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. [4] 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, [2] 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 Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at its headquarters in Geneva. [3] 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. [3] 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 Foreign in the Fakhruddin Ahmed cabinet. [2] He was also put in charge of two additional Ministries,Overseas Employment and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs. [5]
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. [6] He flew to Myanmar shortly thereafter to discuss the row. [7] [8]
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) [9] 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. [10] He has been attending the sessions of the Astana Club,a group of eminent global leaders annually hosted by the First 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. [11] [12] He is a member of the Association of Former BCS (FA) Ambassadors. [13]
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. [14] 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. [14] His youngest sister,Nina Ahmed,married Fakhruddin Ahmed,former chief adviser to the 2007-08 caretaker government. [14]
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Iajuddin Ahmed was the President of Bangladesh,serving from 6 September 2002 until 12 February 2009. From late October 2006 to January 2007,he also served as Chief Advisor of the caretaker government. From October 2006 to early 2008,his responsibilities as president included the Defense Ministry of the caretaker government.
Munier Choudhury was a Bangladeshi educationist,playwright,literary critic and political dissident. He was a victim of the mass killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals in 1971. He was awarded Independence Day Award in 1980,by the then president Ziaur Rahman's government,posthumously.
Kamal Hossain is a Silent Generation founding leader,lawyer and politician of Bangladesh. He is known as the "father of the Bangladeshi constitution" and regarded as an icon of secular democracy in the Indian subcontinent. Hossain currently heads his own law firm in Dhaka. He retired from political activities and from the post of president of Gano Forum in October 2023.
The 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis began as a caretaker government (CTG) assumed power at the end of October 2006 following the end of term of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party administration. The BNP government increased the chief justice's retirement age in an unconstitutional way to bias the appointment of the head of the caretaker government. CTG manages the government during the interim 90-day period and parliamentary elections. Political conflict began with the alleged appointment of a Chief Advisor,a role which devolved to the President,Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed. The interim period was marked from the beginning by violent protests initiated by the Awami League named Logi Boitha Andolan,with 40 people killed and hundreds injured in the first month. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party had its own complaints about the process and the opposition.
Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury was a Bangladesh Army general who was 12th Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army from 16 June 2002 to 15 June 2005. He was the last officer to serve in this position who had first been commissioned by and served with the Pakistani Army,before the Liberation War of 1971. He served for two years before the war.
Humayun Rasheed Choudhury was a Bangladeshi career diplomat and Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament from 1996 to 2001. He was elected president of the 41st session of the UN General Assembly in 1986. He was awarded Independence Day Award in 2018 posthumously by the Government of Bangladesh.
Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury was a Pakistani politician,journalist,sportsman and writer from erstwhile East Bengal,now Bangladesh,who served in the political spheres of British India and Pakistan.
Ayub Quadri is a former advisor for the ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs to the interim Government of Bangladesh that assumed power on January 11,2007. After serving as an advisor for 11 months,he resigned from the post over a scandal concerning artifact theft.
Eastern Bank PLC. is a private commercial bank headquartered in Dhaka,Bangladesh. It was established on August 8,1992,as a public limited company with limited liability under the Bank Companies Act of 1991. Its share are listed in the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange. The bank provides products and services in retail banking,corporate finance,asset management,equity brokerage and security. It has 85 branches and 214 ATMs in Bangladesh and employs around 3000 employees.
Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury,also known as Mokhles Chowdhury,is a Bangladeshi journalist and editor. He served as Press Secretary of the President Iajuddin Ahmed. Mukhles Chowdhury performed as an advisor to the President Iajuddin Ahmed during the Caretaker Government established in October 2006.
Chowdhury is a title of honour,usually hereditary,originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule,it was a title awarded to eminent people,while during British rule,the term was associated with zamindars and social leaders. The common female equivalent was Chowdhurani. Many landlords under the Permanent Settlement carried this surname. Land reforms after the partition of India abolished the permanent settlement. In modern times,the term is a common South Asian surname for both males and females.
Chowdhury Sajjadul Karim was a Bangladeshi nuclear physicist and former advisor of the caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed. He was in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture,Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock,and Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Rasheda K Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi academic and Advisor of Caretaker Government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed.
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Faruq Ahmed Choudhury was a Bangladeshi diplomat. He served as Bangladesh's first Chief of Protocol beginning in 1972,Foreign Secretary from 1984 to 1986,and High Commissioner to India from 1986 to 1992.
AKM Amanul Islam Chowdhury was a Bangladeshi caretaker government adviser. He served in the Latifur Rahman Cabinet in charge of the ministries of Communications,Water Resources,and Ministry of Power,Energy and Mineral Resources.
Syed Abdul Hai was a Bengali officer in Pakistan Army who was killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War by Pakistan Army. He is considered a martyr in Bangladesh.
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