Foreign Minister Humayun Rasheed Choudhury of Bangladesh the new president of the 159 nation U.S. General Assembly is a familiar figure to diplomats around the world.
Described as a “brilliant scholar and youth leader” in his early years Choudhury was trained as a lawyer in London. He went on to become one of Bangladesh’s leading diplomats Choudhury 58 second among four surviving brothers and two sisters was born to a rich family of tea planters. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in sciences from the Ali gharh Moslem University in India in 1947 he studied for the English bar and was a member of Inner Temple in London. He also received a diploma in international affairs from the London Institute of World Affairs.
He joined Pakistan’s Foreign Service in 1953 when Bangladesh was still part of that country and worked in the British and Commonwealth Office in London. When the eastern part of Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971 Choudhury was instrument all in winning recognition for his native land by more than 40 countries.
He was ambassador to western Germany from 972 to 1976 a post with concurrent accreditation to Switzerland Austria and the Vatican. He served at the same time as his country’s representative in Vienna to the U.N International Atomic Energy Agency and the U.N. Industrial Development Organization.
Choudhury then became the first Bangladeshi ambassador the Saudi Arabia accredited also to Jordan and Oman. He returned home to be the Secretary of foreign affairs serving from 1981 to 1982 after which he was appointed ambassador to the United States.
Fluent in English French and Italian Choudhury is a powerful public speaker and persuasive talker who amuse friends and his audiences with anecdotes and jokes. Those qualities took him to government conference rooms around the world especially meetings dealing with problems of developing countries.
Choudhury led the Bengladeshi delegation to the 89th session of the General Assembly in 1984 and were one of the vice presidents overseeing the debate.
He was appointed foreign affairs minister by President Hussain Muhammad Ershad in July 1985 after serving as his adviser for one year.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 19, 1986
