Mohammad Ishaq Dar | At the global high table

Early 1970s were the darkest years in the history of Pakistan. The country was defeated and divided by India in the war of 1971. The young generation, the first post-Partition generation, had a gloomy future ahead. In such a situation came the grand Islamic summit of 1974 that was organised by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Presidents and Prime Ministers from all over the Islamic world came to Lahore. One of them, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, became the darling of the crowd as he was already popular because of his anti-imperialist policy. Bhutto honoured Gaddafi by naming the biggest stadium in Lahore after him. Gaddafi returned the favour by opening the Libyan economy for Pakistani professionals and by investing in Pakistan.

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One of the professionals of that time, a young Pakistani chartered accountant, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, was hired by Gaddafi’s government to be a senior auditor in the Department of Auditor General in Tripoli, Libya. That was how current Foreign Minister of Pakistan, who is in global spotlight because of organising peace meetings with Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye to end U.S.-Israel’s war on Iran, was introduced to the topsy-turvy world of international politics and diplomacy. Mr. Dar, hailing from a middle class Kashmiri family in Lahore, belonged to the first generation of Pakistanis who had no memory of united India. Having started as a director of finance of textiles outfit in London in 1974-76, Mr. Dar quickly branched out to the new petro-dollar rich world of the Arab monarchs and presidents.

Mr. Dar was still working in the financial sector when Pakistan was engaged by the U.S. in waging the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan that ultimately evicted the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. The end of Soviet presence in Afghanistan coincided with return of democracy in Pakistan as General Zia-ul-Haq was killed in a mysterious air crash on August 17, 1988. The first post-Zia government was formed by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) under Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Benazir’s government was followed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Under the first Nawaz Sharif government, Mr. Dar headed the Pakistan Investment Board during 1992-93. He made his debut in the National Assembly next year which saw the return of Benazir Bhutto for her second and final term as Prime Minister.

The Sharif loyalist

Ishaq Dar has been part of the Nawaz Sharif-Shehbaz Sharif era of Pakistan Muslim League(N) for more than three decades and is one of the senior most leaders in the party after the Sharif brothers. He has served as Finance Minister on at least four occasions, starting with November 1998. His last stint as the Finance Minister was in September 2022 that ended in August 2023. He was sworn as the 39th Foreign Minister of Pakistan on March 11, 2024. He was appointed as the Deputy PM on April 28 by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Apart from holding global dialogue with stakeholders for the war in the Gulf, Mr. Dar is also the face of Pakistan’s tough policy on the Taliban regime in Kabul. He has also carried out important initiatives by restarting Pakistan’s ties with Bangladesh, after a gap of nearly one and half decades. However, these initiatives were made possible as Mr. Dar has the full political weight of the Sharif establishment as his son Ali Dar is married to Asma Nawaz Sharif, the less prominent daughter of Nawaz Sharif.

Ali Dar is an adviser to the Government of Punjab and is also known to be in charge of his father’s social media activities and image management. Mr. Dar’s presence in Pakistan government comes at a time when the children of the Sharif clan are taking up various assignments and are being groomed for national level responsibilities.

Already, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s son, Hamza, has served a brief tenure (April-July 2022) as the Chief Minister of Punjab, and Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz, is serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab. As the younger generation of the Sharif clan gets ready for key national roles, Mr. Dar is carrying out the responsibilities of the powerful family as he is evidently trusted by patriarch Nawaz Sharif.