Mohammed Ikramullah

Mohammed Ikramullah was a prominent figure in the administration of Pakistan at the time of independence. He was a member of the provisional government of Pakistan before the independence, and served as Secretary and Advisor at the Ministries of Commerce, Information and Broadcasting, Commonwealth Relations and Foreign Affairs. He was also a member of the Muslim League partition committee and a close companion of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1934 and served in various capacities in the federal government of British India. He also served as Advisor to the preparatory commissions of the United Nations in London and San Francisco, and at its first general assembly, between 1945 and 1946. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1946. After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, he was appointed the first Foreign Secretary of Pakistan by Jinnah himself. He represented Pakistan in the United Nations many times and also served as the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Canada and the UK, and as Pakistan's ambassador to Portugal and France. He played a key role in establishing the Commonwealth Economic Committee and had been nominated as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth at the time of his death in 1963. He was married to Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah, a writer and one of Pakistan's first two female members of Parliament. He was the father of Princess Sarvath of Jordan. He died in 1963 at the age of 60 and was buried with full state honors.