Mansoor Alam ( ur, ; 14 April 1944 – 16 October 2017) was a Pakistani diplomat who served as his country's ambassador to four countries and as an accredited ambassador to fifteen countries.

Background

Alam graduated from the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (whic ...

, where he studied law and international relations. He went on to teach international relations as a subject at the Islamia College, before passing the

Central Superior Services The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

examination and joining the

Foreign Service of Pakistan The Foreign Service of Pakistan ( ur, ) is part of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Its old ...

in 1966.

Diplomatic career

Alam held several diplomatic posts from 1966 to 2000. During his career, he was posted to 11 different countries, including in four countries as Pakistan's ambassador while holding concurrent accreditation for up to 15 countries. He served as the head of mission in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 1984 to 1986, and as director-general for the Middle East from 1986 to 1989. In 1990, he was appointed as Pakistan's ambassador to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, with concurrent accreditation to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, El Salvador, Venezuela and Belize. He played a critical role in the trade agreements put in place and the development of bilateral relations between these nations and Pakistan. In 1994, he was ambassador to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. During his time in Abu Dhabi, he played a role in persuading prime minister

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

to make foreign visits to the UAE after she was elected prime minister for the second time. During 1997, he was posted as the Pakistani ambassador to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Later from April 1997 to July 2000, Alam was the Pakistani envoy to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and Finland, and had an important role in arranging Pakistani prime minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, 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 ...

's two-day state visit to Russia, and in dealing with issues of nuclear capability. It was the first time in twenty-five years that a Pakistani leader had visited Russia. At that time, Sharif's visit to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

was considered the "single most important diplomatic event" in recent Pakistani-Russian relations for the previous fifty years. From 28 August 2000 to 30 June 2002, he was the director-general of the

Foreign Service Academy The Foreign Service Academy ( ur, ) in Islamabad, Pakistan is the training arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. Since its establishment in September 1981, the academy has organized 49 courses of the Foreign Service of Pakistan ou ...

in Islamabad.

Humanitarian work

After retiring from diplomatic life, Alam set up an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

where he provided free education and basic medical coverage to over 10,000 disenfranchised children in urban slums and rural areas in Pakistan, India and Nepal. His NGO was known as Friends of Literacy and Mass Education (FLAME), and was founded in 2001. It provides free primary level education to the poorest and underprivileged children of all ages in Pakistan and some in India with a vision to incorporate other

SAARC The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, ...

nations. Alam was also a founding member of the Karachi Council on Foreign Relations, Economic Affairs and Law., the Pak-India Citizens Friendship Forum and a board member of Tameer Microfinance Bank from 2007 to 2008.

Works

Alam wrote articles on various subjects, which were published in major Pakistani dailies including ''

Pakistan Today ''Pakistan Today'' is a Pakistani English-language daily newspaper, published by Nawa Media Corporation from three Pakistani cities Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab; Karachi, Sindh; and Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory. The newspaper late ...

'', ''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

'' and ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

''. His speeches and seminars include "Party Positions on Foreign Policy", "The Political Crises in Pakistan", "Seminar on WikiLeaks: If someone leaked ISI documents, he wouldn’t have survived", and "Future of American Foreign Policy".

Death

Alam died in

, England, in October 2017 from a pulmonary cardiac arrest, while undergoing treatment there.

References