Javid Husain

Currently serving as the President of the Lahore Council for World Affairs and Chairman of the Mumtaz Husain Benevolent Trust, Javid Husain was born in 1944. He graduated (BA) from Government College, Lahore in 1963, securing first position in the Punjab University.

He then went on to earn his BA (Honours) in Economics in 1964 and his Masters’ (MA) in Economics with distinctions in 1965 from the Punjab University. Subsequently, from 1975 to 1978 he attended several seminars on international relations at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University.

After his initial training in the Pakistan diplomatic service (1967–1968), Javid Husain served on diplomatic assignments in various capitals of the world from 1969 to 1978, before returning to Islamabad, to serve at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1978 to 1981. He then again served on foreign diplomatic assignments from 1982 till 1988, before again returning to Islamabad to serve at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1992.

Javid Husain has had a distinguished career during which he served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Netherlands (1992–1995), the Republic of Korea (1995–1997) and Iran (1997–2003). During his tenure at Tehran, he was also the Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

In August 1999, Javid Husain was promoted to the highest grade (BPS-22) in the civil service of Pakistan (equivalent in rank to the Foreign Secretary/Vice Foreign Minister). From January 2003 to March 2004, he was the senior most serving officer of the Foreign Service of Pakistan. His last position within the Foreign Service of Pakistan was as the Head/Director-General of the Foreign Service Academy from 2003 to 2004.

During this combined period, he represented Pakistan in numerous conferences/meetings of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as well as bilateral delegations to key countries like USA & China.

Since his retirement from the Foreign Service of Pakistan, Ambassador Javid Husain has continued to remain engaged with diplomacy, both as a special envoy/representative for Pakistan in various forums, as well as in the role of the President of the Lahore Council for World Affairs.

Javid Husain was elected as the President of the Lahore Council for World Affairs in May 2012. Under his supervision, the Council has organised a number of panel discussions on such subjects as post-2014 Afghanistan, liberalisation of Pakistan-India trade, etc. He has also organised the Council's meetings with visiting scholars from abroad.

Under his direction, the Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Punjab in April 2013 on mutual collaboration in the organisation of seminars and workshops on foreign policy issues.

Since June 2007, Ambassador Javid Husain has been the Chairman of the Mumtaz Husain Benevolent Trust (MHBT), which is engaged in social welfare activities in Pakistan. Under his supervision the Trust has been running a free dispensary in Jhang, in southern Punjab, since 2008 and has been providing scholarships to needy students in Chenab College, Jhang since 2011.

He has also been engaged in academic and scholarly activities. He is a regular columnist and contributor to national dailies/journals, and frequently gives lectures at prestigious institutions. In addition, he has been engaged in social welfare activities in Pakistan, with a focus on provision of accessible health-care and education.

Javid Husain is fluent in English, Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi. He has working knowledge of French, having taken Third and Fourth degree language courses in French from Alliance française in Paris, France. He is also familiar with Arabic.

He also delivers lectures at prestigious Universities like the University of Punjab, and Lahore University of Management Sciences, think tanks like the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, Center for South Asian Studies at the University of the Punjab and the World Affairs Council of Houston, and training institutions like the Pakistan National Management College on foreign policy issues.

In addition, he also frequently appears on TV news & current affairs shows as an expert to discuss foreign policy and economic issues.