Shah Mehmood Qureshi is a Pakistani politician and has been the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. Apart from being a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, he has also been the vice-chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf since 2011. He is an agriculturist also and was the President of the Farmers Association of Pakistan.
Wiki/Biography
Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi was born in a rich, political and prominent Sufi Muslim family on 22 June 1956 (Age: 62, as in 2018) in Murree, Punjab, Pakistan. He received his primary education from Aitchison College, Lahore, Pakistan. He enrolled at Forman Christian College and received his bachelor degree. He pursued his B.A. from the University of Punjab. For his post-graduation, he admitted in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England and received his M.A. (Law) and M.A. (History) degrees. Qureshi’s father Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi had served in the Senate of Pakistan. His father was a close friend of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq who appointed him the Governor of Punjab.
Old photo of Shah Mehmood Qureshi
Family
He was born to Makhdoom Sajjad Hussain Qureshi and his mother name is not known. He married Mehriene Qureshi and has one son, Zain Hussain Qureshi and two daughters; Gauhar Bano Qureshi and Meher Bano Qureshi.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi with his son
Politics
In the 1985 Pakistani General Election, Qureshi was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Multan for the first time. In 1986, he joined the Pakistani Muslim League (PML). He later joined the faction of PML headed by Nawaz Sharif, which would later become PML (N). In the 1988 Pakistani General Election, Qureshi was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Punjab from Multan constituency for the second time and was made the Minister of Planning and Development in the provincial cabinet of Punjab.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi with Nawaz Sharif
For the third time, he was elected to the assembly in the 1990 Pakistani General Election and became the Minister of Finance in the government of the Chief Minister, Manzoor Wattoo. When Nawaz Sharif refused to give Qureshi a National Assembly ticket, he joined the Pakistan Peoples Party and was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from the same constituency for the first time in Pakistani General Election, 1993. He became the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs under the then Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Benazir Bhutto
When he lost the Pakistani General Election, 1997, he was offered a position in the Council of Economic Advisers to the then President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, which he turned down. From 2000 to 2002, Qureshi served as the Mayor of Multan. In the 2002 General Election, he defeated Makhdoom Javed Hashmi and re-elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Multan. In 2006, Benazir Bhutto appointed him as the President of Pakistan Peoples Party Punjab. In the 2008 General Election, he again won his seat for the third time. He was the potential candidate for the post of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, however, he was made the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi with Yousaf Raza Gilani
Hillary Clinton and Shah Mehmood Qureshi
In 2011, he resigned from Pakistan Peoples Party and joined the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) at a rally in Ghotki. On 4 December 2011, he was appointed as the first vice-chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. In 2013, on the ticket of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, he was re-elected to the National Assembly from Multan. In the 2018 General Election, he was again elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PTI from Constituency NA-156 (Multan-III).
Shah Mehmood Qureshi with Imran Khan
On 20 August 2018, Qureshi became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Imran Khan.
Controversies
- In 2011, he faced criticism in Pakistan, it was revealed that his son, Zain H. Qureshi, was working as a Legislative Fellow in the office of Senator and then U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry.
- In 2018, Qureshi was heavily denounced for his controversial “googly” comments in which he hurt the sentiments of Sikhs. He said, “Prime Minister Imran Khan bowled a “googly” to ensure Indian government’s presence at the groundbreaking ceremony of the landmark Kartarpur Corridor.” However, he defended himself by saying, “Linking my comments to Sikh sentiments deliberate attempt to mislead and misinterpret.”
Net Worth
Qureshi’s net worth is around 283.6 million Pakistani Rupee or $2.7 million.
Facts
- During the cabinet re-shuffle in February 2011, Qureshi was offered the post of Minister of Water and Power, but he declined by saying that he was “not interested in water and power ministry in place of foreign affairs.”
- When he won the election in 2018, he was nominated by PTI for the office of Speaker of the National Assembly. However, he showed reluctance to the office despite Imran Khan’s persuasion.
- Qureshi is among three prominent politicians from Multan District, the other two being the Yousaf Raza Gillani (Former Prime Minister of Pakistan) and Javed Hashmi.
- On 26 February 2019, when the Indian Air Force conducted the Air Strike in Balakot, Pakistan, he condemned the attack and called it the ‘act of aggression.’