Name: Sartaj Aziz
Date of Birth: 7 February 1929 (age 94)
Birth Place: Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, British India (now Pakistan)
Nationality: Pakistani
Political Party: Pakistan Muslim League (N)
Relations: Ashar Aziz (nephew)
Alma mater: University of Punjab, Harvard University
Occupation: Economist, Politician
Cabinet: First Sharif ministry (1990–93), Second Sharif ministry (1997–98), Third Sharif ministry (2013–2017)
Awards: Tamgha-e-Pakistan (1959)
Died: 2 Januray 2024
Sartaj Aziz Biography:
- Sartaj Aziz was born in 1929 into a Pashtun Kakakhel family in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
- In the 1940s, he actively participated in the Pakistan movement led by the Muslim League.
- Aziz obtained a bachelor’s degree in economics from Punjab University in 1949 and later pursued a master’s degree in development economics from Harvard University in 1963.
- He also studied economics at Punjab University and public administration at Harvard Kennedy School.
- Aziz served in various roles within Pakistan’s federal government, including as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and as a federal senator.
- Between 1952 and 1971, he worked as a civil servant, notably as joint secretary in the planning commission from 1967 to 1971.
- In 1971, Aziz joined international organizations, initially the Food and Agriculture Organization, where he eventually became Director of Commodities.
- He later moved to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, serving as Assistant President for Policy and Planning from December 1977 to April 1984.
- Returning to Pakistan in 1984, Aziz served as a junior minister for Agriculture and Food Security until 1988 under the Junejo administration.
- He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 1988 and 1993, representing the center-right PML-N.
- During Nawaz Sharif’s administrations, Aziz held significant ministerial positions, including Minister of Finance from August 1990 to June 1993 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from August 1998 until the 1999 coup d’état.
- Transitioning to academia in 2004, Aziz became the vice-chancellor of Beaconhouse National University and taught economics there.
- He authored “Between Dreams and Realities,” published in 2009.
- Aziz rejoined the government in 2013 under Nawaz Sharif’s third administration, serving as an advisor for foreign policy and later as the National Security Advisor until 2015.
- Sartaj Aziz passed away in Islamabad on January 4, 2024, at the age of 94, as announced by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
( Updated: 05 March 2024 )