Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi (Urdu: افراسیاب مہدی ہاشمی) is a Pakistani diplomat and author. He served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh from 2011 to 2014, and as High Commissioner to New Zealand from 2016 to 2017.
As a diplomat, Hashmi is known for his "razor sharp memory" and his knack for predicting future events.[7][14] He is also reportedly famed for his uncanny ability to read faces and predict what people are thinking.[7][14] Due to this ability, he was part of a Pakistani delegation sent to New Delhi in February 2010 to hold Foreign Secretary-level talks. He was additionally sent by the Foreign Office to receive India's foreign secretary Nirupama Rao in Pakistan during her visit in June, in an attempt to find out what was on her mind.[14]
High Commissioner
From 18 October 2011[15] to mid-October 2014,[16] Hashmi served as Pakistan's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, with concurrent accreditation to Bhutan.[5] As high commissioner, he engaged with the Bangladeshi leadership and advocated greater people-to-people ties between the two countries to improve relations, while the Bangladeshi side called for resolving all outstanding issues from the past including a "formal apology" for 1971 to "enable the existing friendly relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan to make a great leap forward and create a wider space for cooperation".[17][18][19][10] During his tenure in late 2013, diplomatic relations became strained when Bangladesh moved to convict and execute Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla on allegations of war crimes, a decision which was roundly condemned by Pakistan as "judicial murder".[20][21][22] From October 2014 to April 2016, he took over as the Additional Foreign Secretary for Asia-Pacific in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[5][23]
Later in 2016, Hashmi was appointed as Pakistan's High Commissioner to New Zealand, with concurrent diplomatic accreditation to Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati.[5][24] He assumed charge of the mission on 29 April 2016,[5][25] however presented his credentials on 1 June 2016 at Wellington's Government House[26] and held the post until October 2017.[4] He discharged various diplomatic duties while in office,[27][28][29] and also played a key role in strengthening Pakistan's relations with Samoa, as one of his country's first envoys to the island nation.[9][30][31] In early 2017, he was considered as one of the nominees for the post of High Commissioner to India.[32]
U.S. Relations with South Asia since Christopher Columbus and Pakistan–India Interaction (1492–2002). Afrasiab. 2002.
An Encyclopaedia of Dates, Quotes and Documents on Pakistan, India, China, and the United States, and Their Relations: 7000 B.C. to 2013 A.D. Bangladesh Defence Journal Publishing. 2013. ISBN978-969-9837-00-5.
1971 Fact and Fiction: Views and Perceptions in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Khursheed Printers Pvt. Limited. 2016. ISBN978-969-9837-03-6.
The Greatest Man in History is Muhammad. Jellyman New Zealand Paperback. 2017. ISBN978-969-9837-04-3.
Ancient and Contemporary Pakistan is a 900-page book covering the history of Pakistan. According to Hashmi, it was compiled over a period of 15 years.[34]
1971 Fact and Fiction
In his book 1971 Fact and Fiction, Hashmi writes about the political events and circumstances surrounding the East Pakistan conflict of 1971.[10][35] According to Hashmi, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had never originally intended for Bangladesh to secede; instead, he had leveraged it as a means to "raise the threshold" with Islamabad and acquiesce president Yahya Khan to agree to his demands – however, the situation reached a "point of no return."[10] He also writes that former president Ayub Khan and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto both knew as far back as 1966 that "it was not really possible for East Pakistan to remain part of Pakistan for long".[10] After the war ended, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai reportedly said to Bhutto: "Do not worry... take a long-term view, who knows what is going to happen in the subcontinent 50 years from now, 70 years from now, 100 years from now!".[10][35] After Pakistan recognised Bangladesh and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman visited Lahore in 1974 to attend the Second Islamic Summit, Bhutto and Mujib had an exchange wherein the former remarked "You are helpless! You cannot take any decision without the approval of Indira Gandhi!" and the latter said "Bhutto sahib, do not insult me... you know too well, whatever happened was because of you!".[10][35]
Hashmi opines that as a result of the creation of Bangladesh, India has to deal with Muslim-majority Pakistan and Bangladesh on both its western and eastern sides respectively.[10][35]
^"Politics, favouritism alleged in envoys' selection". Dawn. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020. Director General (South Asia) Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi (posted to Dhaka), Maalik Abdullah (the new high commissioner in Canberra) and Muhammad Aslam (Algiers) are the other officers moving out from the headquarters. Mr Hashmi hails from Multan...
^"Add pressure on Pakistan: India". Taipei Times. 24 December 2008. p. 6. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2020. Foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said Pakistan's acting High Commissioner Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi was summoned to the ministry...
^"Pakistan seeks update on Samjhauta bombing probe". NDTV. 10 January 2011. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2020. India's acting Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan GV Srinivas was called to the Foreign Office by Director-General (South Asia) Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi, who said information on the progress of investigation should be provided to Islamabad by New Delhi "at the earliest".
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