Tariq Fatemi

Tariq Fatemi joined Pakistan’s Foreign Service in October 1969. He served in Moscow and at the United Nations in New York before heading the foreign minister’s office in Islamabad. During the 1980s he took part in the UN sponsored Geneva negotiations on Afghanistan, then served as deputy head of mission in Washington from 1986 to 1991 and in Beijing from 1991 to 1993. ¹

After serving as high commissioner in Zimbabwe, Fatemi supervised the Foreign Ministry’s Americas and Europe divisions and worked on defense and foreign affairs in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office. He arrived in Washington as ambassador in September 1999. Following the October coup, he was placed on leave before presenting his credentials to President Clinton. ^{1, 2}

His subsequent assignments included Jordan and the embassy in Brussels, where he represented Pakistan to Belgium, Luxembourg, and the European Union. He retired from the diplomatic service in 2004, joined the Pakistan Muslim League to advise on foreign policy, and taught at the Foreign Service Academy. He also lectured at defense and civil service institutions. ^{1, 3, 4}

As special assistant to Nawaz Sharif, Fatemi presented Pakistan’s case for regional economic integration at Carnegie in Washington in July 2014. He was removed in 2017 after a leak inquiry, whose allegations he publicly rejected. By March 2025, he was again serving as the prime minister’s special assistant on foreign affairs and addressed Carnegie on Pakistan’s international engagement. ^{3, 5, 6}