Khurram Dastgir Khan ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 3 August 1970) is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan since August 2018. Previously, he was a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

of Pakistan from 2008 to 2013 and again from 2013 to 2018. He is current Federal Minister for Power of Pakistan He served as

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, in

Abbasi cabinet The Abbasi ministry was formed by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on 4 August 2017 to begin a new government following the disqualification of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif until the end of May 2018 when justice Nasirul Mulk took oath a ...

from August 2017 and May 2018, respectively, until May 2018. He served as Minister of State for Science and Technology, Minister of State for Privatisation and Minister of State for Commerce between 2013 and 2014. He served as the Minister for Commerce from 2014 to 2017. Khan studied engineering from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

and economics at Bowdoin College.

Early life and education

Khan was born on 3 August 1970. Khan studied at the St. Joseph's High School in Gujranwala and Cadet College, Hasan Abdal. Khan attended the Bowdoin College in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

from where he holds a degree in Economics and was trained as an electrical engineer at the

Career

In 1999, he was serving as Special Assistant to then

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pa ...

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

until his tenure was terminated during

1999 Pakistani coup d'état The 1999 military takeover in Pakistan was a bloodless ''coup d'état'' initiated by the military staff at the Joint Staff HQ working under Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Pervez Musharraf. The instigators seized c ...

staged by

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

. He ran for the seat of National Assembly of Pakistan from Gujranwala constituency as a candidate of PML (N) in 2002 Pakistani general elections but was unsuccessful. Reportedly, he was booked for terrorist activities; for beating up two PPP activists at a polling station and for getting a provocative pamphlet published about a rival candidate in separate cases. From 2006 to 2009, he worked on building his reputation in the PML-N where he eventually became party's central deputy secretary information. He was elected to the National Assembly for the first time as a candidate of PML(N) in 2008 Pakistani general election. In October 2008, he was elected as Chairman of the Standing Committee of National Assembly on Commerce. He was re-elected to the National Assembly for the second time as a candidate of PML (N) in 2013 Pakistani general election. Upon PML-N victory in the 2013 general election, Khan was first appointed as Minister of State for Science and Technology. Later, he was made Minister of State for Privatisation as well Chairman of the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan. In December 2013, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Commerce. In January 2014, he was elevated to the rank of federal minister and was appointed as the Minister for Commerce for the first time. He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the disqualification of Prime Minister

after

Panama Papers case The Panama Papers case (officially titled ''Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi v. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif''), or the Panamagate case, was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan that disqualified incumbent Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz ...

decision. Following the election of

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Shahid Khaqan Abbasi ( ur, ; born 27 December 1958) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 21st prime minister of Pakistan from August 2017 to May 2018. Abbasi is the senior vice president of the Pakiatan Muslim League ...

as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Khan was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for Defence for the first time. In May 2018, he was given the additional portfolio of

. Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Khan ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Federal Minister for Defence. He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-81 (Gujranwala-III) in 2018 Pakistani general election.

References

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Khurram Dastgir 1970 births Living people Punjabi people Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 Pakistani expatriates in the United States Pakistani electrical engineers Nawaz Sharif administration Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Commerce Ministers of Pakistan Cadet College Hasan Abdal alumni Defence Ministers of Pakistan People from Gujranwala California Institute of Technology alumni Bowdoin College alumni Dastgir family Pakistani MNAs 2018–2023 Pakistani people of Kashmiri descent