Syed Amjad Ali

For other people with the same name, see Amjad Ali (disambiguation).
Syed Amjad Ali
OBE
3rd Minister of Finance
In office
12 September 1956 – 7 October 1958
Prime MinisterHuseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
I. I. Chundrigar
Feroz Khan Noon
Preceded byChaudhry Muhammad Ali
Succeeded byMuhammad Shoaib
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations
In office
1964 – 25 March 1967
Appointed byAyub Khan
Preceded byMuhammad Zafarullah Khan
Succeeded byAgha Shahi
Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
In office
26 September 1953 – 17 September 1955
Prime MinisterMuhammad Ali Bogra
Chaudhry Mohammad Ali
Preceded byMuhammad Ali Bogra
Succeeded byMuhammad Ali Bogra
Personal details
Born5 July 1907
Lahore, British India
Died5 March 1997 (aged 89)
Lahore, Pakistan
NationalityPakistani
RelationsSyed Babar Ali (brother)[1]
Syed Wajid Ali (brother)[1]
OccupationPolitician

Syed Amjad Ali (Urdu: سید امجد علی; 5 July 1907 – 5 March 1997) was a Pakistani politician and a civil servant during the British Raj era, who served as the 3rd Minister of Finance (Pakistan) from 1956 to 1958 and as Pakistan Ambassador to the United States from 1953 to 1955.[1][2]

Ali was born in Lahore, the eldest son of Sir Syed Maratib Ali, a prominent Muslim businessman in the Punjab. Syed Babar Ali and Syed Wajid Ali were his younger brothers.[3] He had connections for diplomacy in the final days of the British colony, as he knew many prominent people in the Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and British communities.[2]

Ali was educated at the St. Agnes Loreto Convent in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, followed by the Muslim High School and Government College in Lahore. After receiving his B. A. in 1927, he went to London for legal studies at the Middle Temple. While in London, he served as honorary secretary of the Muslim delegations at the First Round Table Conference in 1930–31 and for the Indian delegation at the Second Round Table Conference at the end of 1931.[2] He returned home and worked for his father's company, A. & M. Wazir Ali. He was appointed an OBE in the 1936 Birthday Honours.[4] and a CIE in 1944 Birthday Honours.[5]

During the last few years of British rule, Ali worked closely with "two giants of pre-partition Punjab politics"— Fazl-i-Hussain and Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan —while sitting in the Punjab Legislative Assembly (1937–45) and the Constituent Assembly of India (1946).[2]

After independence from India and British rule, Ali served as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States (1953–55), Finance Minister of Pakistan (1955–58), and Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1964–67).[2]

Books

  • The United Nations and I : 1950-1993
  • Glimpses
  • Prints & imprints
  • Ustad Bashir ud Din : the last master from Lahore School of Painters

References

  1. ^ a b c Saxon, Wolfgang (17 March 1997). "Syed Amjad Ali, 89, of Pakistan, Envoy to Washington and U.N." The New York Times. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Syed Amjad Ali - Introduction". Archived from the original on 8 May 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  3. ^ Markovits, C. (2008). Merchants, Traders, Entrepreneurs: Indian Business in the Colonial Era. Springer. p. 84. ISBN 9780230594869. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  4. ^ "No. 34296". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 June 1936. p. 4007.
  5. ^ "No. 36544". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1944. p. 2571.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
1953 – 1955 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Pakistan Ambassador to the United Nations
1964 – 1967 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Finance Minister of Pakistan
1955 – 1958 		Succeeded by