Ambassador Sohail Mahmood has assumed responsibilities as the new Foreign Secretary on Wednesday (April 17, 2019).
His biography is placed below:
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood is a career Foreign Service officer with diplomatic experience spanning over three decades that includes various assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as Pakistan’s missions abroad in both bilateral and multilateral arenas.
Prior to his appointment as the Foreign Secretary, Ambassador Sohail Mahmood served as Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India from August 2017 to April 2019. Earlier, he served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey (with concurrent accreditation to Macedonia and Kosovo) from 2015 to 2017, and as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Thailand & Permanent Representative to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Bangkok, from 2009 to 2013.
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1985.
At the Headquarters, he worked as Desk Officer for the South Asia region from 1987 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1991. He later worked as Director (Iran and Turkey) from 1995-1998; as Director General (Americas) from 2005-2008; Director General, Foreign Secretary’s Office (FSO) in 2009; and as Additional Secretary (Afghanistan/West Asia) from 2013-2015.
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood’s diplomatic assignments abroad also included working at Pakistan’s Missions in Ankara, Washington as well as New York, including as Political Coordinator for Pakistan’s delegation to UN Security Council in 2003-2004.
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood holds a Masters degree in International Affairs (M.I.A.) from the Columbia University, New York, as well as a Masters in History from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
He is married and has three children.
