Masood Khan

Masood Khan served in Washington from 1997 to 2002, became the Foreign Office spokesperson, and then represented Pakistan at the United Nations in Geneva from 2005 to 2008. His Geneva responsibilities included chairing international negotiations on internet governance and presiding over the 2006 review conference of the Biological Weapons Convention. ¹

The biological weapons conference required rebuilding agreement after the divisions of the previous review cycle. In an interview before the meeting, Khan advocated a substantive consensus, practical cooperation, and a document that scientists, industry, and the public could understand. The conference established an Implementation Support Unit and renewed intersessional work. Reflecting on the negotiations in 2015, he emphasized the collective effort to accommodate disagreements and connect arms control work with public health and scientific organizations. ^{2, 3}

He subsequently served as ambassador to China from 2008 to 2012 and permanent representative at the United Nations in New York from 2012 to 2015. He presided over the Security Council in January 2013 and chaired UNICEF’s executive board. After directing the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, he became president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, serving from August 2016 to August 2021. ¹

Khan returned to Washington as ambassador in 2022. Following Pakistan’s devastating floods that year, he worked with American humanitarian organizations on relief and reconstruction. In October he convened Muslim charities, identified urgent needs such as water purification equipment and winter supplies, and arranged quarterly meetings to review longer term support. ⁴

After the Washington posting, Khan moved into educational leadership. The Millennium Universal College announced his appointment as president of its higher education group in 2024. ⁵