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Ambassador (Rtd.) Khizar Hayat Khan Niazi Born on 28 November, 1944 in Mianwali (South Western Punjab), from where he graduated, Ambassador (Rtd.) Khizar Hayat Khan Niazi holds two Master’s degrees: first in Political Science from the University of the Punjab, Lahore (Pakistan) with a gold medal; and the second in the Commonwealth Area Studies, with International Relations as one of the majors, from the University of London, on a UNESCO Fellowship. He attended a Summer Course at The Hague Academy of International Law; two short courses at the Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore; and a Commonwealth Senior Diplomats Programme at the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad.

After obtaining his first Master’s degree, he started his career as a Lecturer in Political Science in a degree college in Islamabad in September 1969. He taught there till he left for London for higher studies in September 1972. He also worked as a Tutor/Lecturer/Course Coordinator at the Arab Open University, Kuwait.

Career
Ambassador Niazi, a career diplomat, has been a practitioner of diplomacy since he joined Foreign Service of Pakistan in October 1973. As a junior diplomat, he served in Sri Lanka, Iran, Qatar, Oman and Sweden. He worked as a Minister/Charge’d Affaires in Norway, Ambassador to the Sudan, with concurrent accreditation to Chad, Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo, and High Commissioner to Australia, with concurrent accreditation to Fiji and New Zealand. He was Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kuwait when he retired from diplomatic service in July 2005. During his diplomatic career, spanning over three decades, he has been monitoring, researching, analysing and reporting on almost every development in the countries of his accreditation. But because of the classified nature of his job, he could not publish what he wrote. Since his retirement from diplomatic service, however, he has been occasionally contributing articles to various journals. These include his research paper on “GCC - Japan Relations: Kuwait Looks towards the East”, which was published by the Gulf Research Centre, Dubai, in November 2006. His Policy Brief on “Kuwait Looks Towards the East: Relations with China” was published by the Middle East Institute in September 2009. He has also been writing on Pakistan. His articles entitled: “Pakistan’s Foreign Policy”; and, “Pakistan: The Most Sanctioned Ally of the United States” were published by the Research Institute for European and American Studies.

Democracy, Human Rights, Rule of Law and Terrorism are amongst the most burning issues of the day. Afghanistan has been a breeding ground for terrorism. Iran was alleged to be a part of the “axis of evil”. The Sudan was accused of carrying out terrorist activities in the neighboring countries. Pakistan has been allegedly sponsoring terrorism and blamed for supporting one of the most fanatic Islamist outfits in the world. It is now a front-line state against terrorism. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which were criticized for absence of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, are in the process of introducing home-grown reforms. Being a Pakistani diplomat, having worked in Iran, the Sudan and three GCC states and lived in Afghanistan’s neighbourhood, Ambassador Niazi has had the chance to study all these issues closely.

Ambassador Niazi is a South Asian, who has studied in Europe and worked in Africa, the Middle East, Oceania and Scandinavia and is settled in Australia. His exposure to different cultures, vast experience and the ability to see complex political and social issues and intellectual concepts dispassionately, has added depth, breadth and diversity to his perspectives.