AFM Gousal Azam Sarker is a Bangladeshi diplomat of the 1986 batch of

Bangladesh Civil Service Bangladesh Civil Service (), popularly known by its acronym BCS, is the civil service of Bangladesh. Civil service in the Indian subcontinent originated from the Imperial Civil Service which was the elite higher civil service of the British Empir ...

(BCS-FA), and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989. He is also the former ambassador of Bangladesh to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, former ambassador of Bangladesh to Lebanon, and the former ambassador of Bangladesh to Sweden. He is presently the chairman of

Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) is a state owned autonomous national research institute and think tank working as a statutory institute that carries out research on security and strategic issues in Bangladesh ...

Personal life

Gousal Azam Sarker was born on 8 February 1964 as the eldest son to late Freedom Fighter Rais Uddin Sarker, a recognised veteran (

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

) of the Bangladesh War for Liberation, 1971. He is an alumnus of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

where he completed his bachelor's (honours) degree in English literature, and his master's degree in English linguistics. Subsequently, he received a second master's degree in international policy & practice from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in Washington, D.C., United States. He is married to his wife Sadia Azam and has two sons and a daughter.

Career

Sarker joined the foreign affairs cadre of the

in 1986. In his long diplomatic career, Sarker served in various capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs including as director general (Europe) and director general (international organisations). He served in Bangladesh missions in Paris,

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, and

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. He served as Bangladesh's consul general in Hong Kong, and ambassador to Sweden, Lebanon, and Iran with concurrent accreditation to

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Sarker was the director general of the Europe and international organisations wings at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

between 2008 and 2010. In 2014, Sarker was the first ambassador of Bangladesh to Lebanon. He and the head of chancery at the embassy, ATM Monemul Haque, had filed multiple complaints against each other with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Ministry recalled both men after the Foreign Ministry sent the ambassador of Bangladesh to Egypt to investigate the issue. Sarker was appointed ambassador of Bangladesh to Sweden in September 2010 and presented his

credentials A credential is a piece of any document that details a qualification, competence, or authority issued to an individual by a third party with a relevant or '' de facto'' authority or assumed competence to do so. Examples of credentials include ac ...

to the king of Sweden,

Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf (Carl Gustaf Folke Hubertus; born 30 April 1946) is King of Sweden. Having reigned since 1973, he is the longest-reigning monarch in Swedish history. Carl Gustaf was born during the reign of his paternal great-grandfather, K ...

, in November. In June 2019, Sarker was appointed the ambassador of Bangladesh to Iran. In March 2023, Manjurul Karim Khan replaced Sarker as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Iran. He was appointed chairman of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.

References