Sultan Mohammad Khan

Sultan Mohammad Khan was born in 1919 and entered the Indian Army during the Second World War, receiving his commission in 1942. He served in the Far East before joining the Indian Political Service in 1946. At partition he chose Pakistan and moved into its foreign service. His early assignments included Cairo, New Delhi, Rome, Beijing, Ankara, and London. ¹

He became high commissioner in Canada and later ambassador in China, then rose to foreign secretary. He retained that office through the transfer of power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in December 1971. Arriving in Washington as ambassador in April 1972, he presented his credentials the following month. In August he asked Defense Secretary Melvin Laird to reconsider military supplies, arguing that Pakistan had lost much of its equipment in the 1971 war and needed parts to maintain what remained. Laird declined to reopen the question immediately. ^{1, 2}

During a second Washington assignment, Khan confronted the aid cutoff imposed over Pakistan's uranium enrichment program. In April 1979 he protested the publicity and lack of consultation surrounding application of the Symington Amendment. He argued that Pakistan was being treated differently from India and pointed to its proposal for a South Asian zone free of nuclear weapons. Under Secretary David Newsom replied that the evidence on enrichment required action under American law, while leaving open a renewed dialogue and possible assurances. ³

Khan also served in Japan. He died in Karachi in November 2010, aged ninety-one. ⁴