Tariq Fatemi, who holds bachelors (Hons) and masters degree in Arts is a former career diplomat. He is currently working as a political analyst. Apart from appearing regularly on television on a variety of political talk shows, he also writes a weekly column for Dawn that appears every Thursday.
He joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in October 1969. His diplomatic assignments in Pakistan Missions abroad include: Third Secretary, Moscow (1970-1974); Second Secretary, New York City (1974-1979); First Secretary, Moscow (1979-1981); Minister/Deputy Head of Mission, Washington, D.C. (1986-1991); and Minister/Deputy Head of Mission, Beijing (1991-1993)
He also served at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad (1981-1986) as Director and Director General of the Foreign Minister’s Office. As head of this Office, he was associated with all important negotiations conducted by the Minister. From December 1996 to June 1998, he was Additional Secretary in the Foreign Ministry, in charge of Americas and Europe Divisions. From July 1998 to July 1999, he was Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, in charge of Defence, Defence Production and Foreign Affairs. He was later promoted to the highest rank in the country’s civil service, that of a Federal Secretary to the Government of Pakistan.
Tariq Fatemi was a delegate to the UN General Assembly Session from 1982-1986 and has also attended numerous Non-Aligned and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Summits and Ministerial meetings. As such, he was involved in negotiations leading to numerous NAM and OIC Declarations. He was also a member of the UN sponsored Geneva negotiations on Afghanistan from 1982-1986.
Tariq Fatemi has served as High Commissioner of Pakistan to Zimbabwe (1993-1996), with concurrent accreditation to Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. In September 1999, he was sent as Pakistan Ambassador to the United States by the Nawaz Sharif government, however he was recalled after three months, without presenting his credentials, because of the military coup.
Later, he served as Ambassador to Jordan from March 2000 to September 2002, and was Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of Mission to the European Union from September, 2002 to July 2004, before leaving this post on having reached the mandatory age for retirement of all civil servants in Pakistan.
Tariq Fatemi speaks English, Russian and Urdu fluently.
