His stint as foreign minister played a major role in the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1979–89) and he took part in negotiations to end the Contras in Nicaragua (1981–87) on the behalf of the United Nations. In the 1990s, he served as an official of the United Nations for Western Sahara until he was reappointed as foreign minister under Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. After retiring from diplomatic services in 1997, he spent his remaining years in Islamabad and died in Islamabad in 2016.
In his military career he saw action during World War II and served in the North African campaign where he was attached to 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry from April 1942. He was taken prisoner of war in North Africa in May 1942. In September 1943 he escaped from the Italian prisoner of war camp P. G. 91 in Avezzano (with two other Indian officers) and was out for four to five months attempting to move south to Allied lines, but they were subsequently re-captured by German forces who put him in a prisoner of war camp in Germany until April 1945 when he was released by the U.S. Army soldiers. During his time in German custody, he learnt languages by interacting with fellow prisoners and reading literature in those languages.
In 1951, he served in the Military Intelligence (MI) as lieutenant-colonel, and directed initiatives to analytical branch of the ISI for the whereabouts of the Indian Army but he reportedly struggled with providing factual intelligence that was provided to ISI.[7]
Upon returning to Pakistan, he was promoted to brigadier in 1955 where he served as a chief instructor at the Command and Staff College.[9]
Staff and war appointments:1960–69
In 1958, he was appointed as the vice chief of general staff at the army GHQ and later becoming the commandant of the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1960. In 1960 he was promoted to major-general and commanded the 1st Armoured Division of Armoured Corps and was said to have a portrait of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in his office.[10] As an armored commander, he arranged a course on philosophy on the panzer doctrine to educate the armoured division on the tank battles and strategies.[10]
He participated in the war against India in 1965, having command of his 1st Armoured Division.[11] He helped develop the operational planning of the armoured vehicular warfare deployments against the Indian Army advances in Punjab and presented his views at the Army GHQ.[12] Soon after, he was appointed as director-general military operations (DGMO) by General Musa Khan and directed all formats of ground operations during the 1965 war against India.[1]
After the war, he was appointed as chief of general staff at the army GHQ under army chief General Yahya Khan in 1966 and remained until 1969.[13]
East Pakistan: military advisor and governorship (1969–71)
In 1969, Lieutenant-General Yaqub Khan was posted to East Pakistan as the commander of Eastern Command in Dacca by President Yahya Khan and helped evaluate the command rotation of the eastern military.[14] Soon, he was appointed as governor of East Pakistan where he began learning the Bengali language and became accustomed to Bengali culture.[15][16] He was highly respected by the East Pakistani military officers due to his stance and professionalism and was said to be very well liked and respected in the East.[17]
He was known to be an unusual military officer who knew very well about "limits of force",[18] and did not believe in the use of brute force to settle political disputes.[13] In 1969–71, he worked together with Admiral Ahsan in advising the Yahya administration in an effort to resolve the situation and restricted strictly the proposal of usage of military force in the province.[19]
At the cabinet meeting, he was often fierce and strictly resisted the usage of military option but was respected in the military due to his understanding of Bengali issues and whose colleagues often labeled him as "Bingos."[20] In 1970, he notably coordinated the relief operations when the disastrous cyclone had hit the state and gained prestige for his efforts in the country.{[21]
In 1971, he participated in the area contingency and fact-finding mission, which was known as the Ahsan–Yaqub Mission, to resolve the political deadlock between East Pakistan and Pakistan as both men argued that "military measures would not change the political situations".[22]
In March 1971, he became aware of the rumors of a military action against East Pakistanis and delivered desperate military signals to President Yahya Khan in Islamabad to not use military solution as he feared Indian intervention.[23] After the resignation of Admiral Ahsan, he was ordered to use military force against the civil agitation led by the Awami League but refused to take this order and tendered his resignation to be posted back to Pakistan.[20][22]: 71 His resignation came in the light of resisting the military orders and fiercely maintained to President Yahya that "military solution was not acceptable".[23]
Commenting on the situation, Yaqub maintained that: "[President] Yahya was also keen to impose the "open sword" martial law to roll back the situation as it was in 1969."[19] He lodged a strong protest against the military solution and maintained that the "central government had failed to listen to the voices of their co-citizens in the East."[23] To many authors, Yaqub Khan had become a "conscientious objector" in the military.[23]
He was posted back to Pakistan, joined the Army GHQ staff and participated in winter war against India in 1971 without commanding an assignment and retired from the military after the war, also in 1971.[24]
Foreign service
Ambassadorship to France, United States, and Soviet Union
In 1979, he was sent to Moscow and was appointed as Pakistan Ambassador to the Soviet Union where he worked towards building foreign relations with the Soviet Union by signing an educational accord.[27] In 1980, he was reassigned in France again where he remained until 1982.[25]
Foreign minister and United Nations
Yaqub Ali Khan was brought in to the Zia administration as foreign minister in 1982 when Agha Shahi departed President Zia-ul-Haq's cabinet.[28] He was appointed foreign minister in the conservative-aligned government but Yaqub maintained his composure and his wit in the Zia administration.[28]
As foreign minister, he directed a proactive and keen pro-Islamic policy and supported the U.S. sponsored clandestine program to arm the Afghan mujahideen against Soviet-sponsored Socialist Afghanistan.[29] He advised President Zia-ul-Haq on many key matters and firmly had gripped the country's foreign policy on the track of pro-U.S. foreign policy as many military officers joined his foreign ministry.[30] During this time, the matters were kept out of the sight of the Foreign Office with Yaqub handling matters with the military.[30] He continued his role as foreign minister after the general elections held in 1985 by the Prime Minister Mohammad Junejo.[26]
In the 1980s, he provided his diplomatic expertise in resolving the Soviet–Afghan War when he explored the possibility of setting-up the interim system of government under former monarchZahir Shah but this was not authorized by President Zia-ul-Haq.[33] In 1984–85, he paid visits to China, Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, France, United States and the United Kingdom to develop framework for the Geneva Accords which was signed in 1988.[34] About the death and state funeral of President Zia-ul-Haq, Yaqub was earlier warned by Soviet Foreign Minister Edward Shevardnadze that Pakistan's support for the Afghan mujahideen "would not go unpunished."[35]
After the 1990 Pakistani general election, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made him foreign minister, a position he retained until 1991.[38] He once again put country's foreign policy to supporting U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in the Gulf War.[15]: 77 After the Gulf War, Yaqub resigned his post as foreign minister on 26 February 1991.[39]
After his resignation, he went on to join the United Nations when he was named the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara in 1992 which he remained until 1995.[40] In 1996, he was again re-appointed as foreign minister by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but it was short-lived when his tenure was cut-short after President Farooq Legharidismissed Benazir Bhutto's government.[5]
Although he retired from politics in 1997, Yaqub Ali Khan did provide his support to President Pervez Musharraf to stabilise his writ against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999 when he visited United States to provide legitimacy of military martial law.[41]
Post-retirement and death
In 1981, he was appointed as the founding chairman of the board of trustees of the Aga Khan University which he chaired for almost two decades until his retirement in 2001.[42] He was also a commissioner in the now retired Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict in New York City, United States.[43]
Yaqub Ali Khan was married to Begum Tuba Khaleeli of the Iranian Khaleeli family of Calcutta with whom he had two sons, Samad and Najib.[2] He was said to be proficient in seven global languages including English, Russian, French, Urdu, German, Italian, and Bengali.[44] He died of an old age, at 95, in Islamabad where he was laid to rest in Westridge cemetery in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. His funeral services were attended by then CJCSC General Rashad Mahmood, then COAS General Raheel Sharif, then Air Chief General Sohail Aman, then Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah and other high-ranking civil and military officials and people from all walks of life.[45]
Khan, Sahabzada Mohammad Yaqub Ali (2005). Strategy, diplomacy, humanity : life and work of Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan. Karachi: International Forum Takshila Research University. p. 396. ISBN0-9755860-1-7.
^Bahadur, Kalim; Singh, Uma, eds. (1989). Pakistan, transition to democracy : joint study of Indian and Pakistani scholars. New Delhi: Patriot Publishers on behalf of Indian Centre for Regional Affairs. pp. 120–129. ISBN8170501008.