Ambassador Syed Haider Shah presents credentials to UN secretary-general

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 03 (APP):Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, the newly appointed Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

Ambassador Shah replaces Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, who is now serving as Pakistan’s foreign secretary.

At the brief ceremony, Ambassador Haider Shah conveyed the greetings and best wishes of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar, according to a press release of the Pakistan Mission to the UN.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s steadfast commitment to multilateralism, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and the work of the United Nations across its three pillars of peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.

The Secretary-General reciprocated the warm sentiments and expressed his deep appreciation for Pakistan’s positive, active and constructive contributions to the work of the United Nations, according to the press release.

A senior Pakistan Foreign Service diplomat, he was serving — prior to his current appointment — as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Netherlands since March 2025. He also worked as the Additional Secretary (United Nations & Organization of Islamic Cooperation) from November 2022 till February 2025, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad.

From November 2020 to October 2022, Ambassador Shah served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Nepal. Earlier, from 2016 to 2020, he served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, including as Acting High Commissioner from April 2019 to October 2020.

From July 2014 to August 2015, he served as Director, Foreign Minister’s Office, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He subsequently served as Director (Afghanistan) from July 2013 to April 2014 and had earlier held the position of Director (United Nations) from 2006 to 2008.

Ambassador Shah has extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy, international law, counter-terrorism, Afghanistan and South Asian affairs, it was pointed out.

From 2008 to 2013, he served as Legal Officer at the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) in New York. Established by the Security Council in 2004, CTED supports the Committee’s work, including facilitating the delivery of counter-terrorism technical assistance and addressing legal and human rights dimensions of counter-terrorism efforts.

He also served at the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York from 2002 to 2006, where he covered the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly. During this assignment, he participated in negotiations on several Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

Over the course of his career, he has participated in numerous international conferences and represented Pakistan at sessions of the UN General Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and 2023 to 2024. He has also been actively involved in negotiations on various international treaties and conventions.

Ambassador Shah holds an LL.M. (1998) from Harvard Law School and an LL.B. (1993) from Khyber Law College, University of Peshawar. He also obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in International Law (ILOD) (2000) from the Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, The Hague.

He co-authored a research paper titled “The Legislative Powers of the United Nations Security Council”, published in Towards World Constitutionalism by Martinus Nijhoff in 2005.

Ambassador Shah is married and has three children.