On May 17, 2013, the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center hosted a discussion with Ambassador Riaz Mohammad Khan, former foreign secretary for Pakistan; Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, former Pakistan ambassador to the United States; and Dr. Mohsin Khan, resident senior fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Atlantic Council.
A discussion with
Ambassador Riaz Mohammed Khan
Former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan
Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi (via Skype)
Former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
Dr. Mohsin Khan
Resident Senior Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East
Atlantic Council
Moderated by
Mr. Shuja Nawaz
Director, South Asia Center
Atlantic Council
Ambassador Riaz Mohammad Khan served as foreign secretary of Pakistan from February 2005 to April 2008 and as Pakistan’s ambassador to China from 2002 to 2005. He has also represented Pakistan as the ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg (1995-98) and to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (1992-95). Ambassador Khan was also additional foreign secretary of Pakistan, responsible for issues such as international organizations, arms control, and disarmament, from 1998 to 2002 and director general, responsible for Afghanistan and Soviet affairs from 1986 to 1992 at the Pakistan Foreign Office. His publications include Untying the Afghan Knot: Negotiating Soviet Withdrawal published by Duke University Press in 1990 and a study of Chinese communes published in 1975. His latest book is Afghanistan and Pakistan: Conflict, Extremism and Resistance to Modernity, published by the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC (2011). A participant in many dialogues, conferences, and seminars, Ambassador Khan has also conducted a number of negotiations on a variety of bilateral and multilateral issues.
Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States twice (1993-96, 1999-2002). She has also served as a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Affairs (2001-05) and as high commissioner to the United Kingdom (2003-08). Currently, Ambassador Lodhi is special adviser for international affairs to Pakistan’s largest media conglomerate, the Jang/Geo Group and chairperson of the Global Agenda Council on counterterrorism of the World Economic Forum. Ambassador Lodhi has been the editor of Pakistan’s leading English daily, The News. She taught politics and political sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1980-85) and has been a visiting faculty member at the National Defence University in Islamabad. She is the author of two books: Pakistan’s Encounter with Democracy and The External Challenge and Pakistan: Beyond the ‘Crisis State.’ She is the recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz President’s Award for public service in Pakistan.
Dr. Mohsin Khan is a senior fellow in the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East focusing on the economic dimensions of transition in the Middle East and North Africa. Previously, Dr. Khan was a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He has served as director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), responsible for monitoring macroeconomic developments and providing policy advice to thirty-two countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, and for advising IMF management and Executive Board on country-specific and regional matters. Dr. Khan’s publications cover macroeconomic and monetary policies in developing countries, economic growth, international trade and finance, Islamic banking, Middle East oil markets, exchange rates, and IMF programs. He has edited seven books, published numerous articles in major economics journals, and serves on the editorial boards of ten academic journals. In 2003 he was awarded the Islamic Development Bank Prize in Islamic Economics for outstanding contributions to the field. He holds degrees from Columbia University (MA) and the London School of Economics (BSc and PhD).