# Shafaat Ullah Shah

Shafaat Ullah Shah HI(M) (Urdu: شفاعت اللہ شاہ; born 28 August 1953) is a retired three star general of the Pakistan Army, diplomat, and author. He often writes for the Pakistan Armed Forces magazine, "Hilal English". He has served as Chief of Logistics Staff at the GHQ, Colonel Commandant of the Baloch Regiment, Commander IV Corps, and as Military Secretary to President Musharraf.

## Early life and education

Shah was born into a Syed family on 28 August 1953 in Lahore, Pakistan, to Syed Shafqat Ullah Shah who migrated from Hyderabad Deccan to Lahore in 1948. His father was an employee of the Prisons Department of Punjab and later became Inspector general of the Punjab Prisons from May 1981 to May 1983.
He was enrolled in the Abbottabad Public School in class 7, and did his Faculty of Sciences (FSc) from there before he joined the Army. He wanted to become a doctor but wasn't selected into King Edward Medical University so his father made him join the Pakistan Army. He is also an honors graduate of the Staff College in Camberley and the National Defence College.
He holds master's degrees in political science and in strategic studies.

## Personal life

Shah is married to the daughter of (r) Brigadier Liaqat Bokhari (SJ).

## Military career

Shah was commissioned into the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1971 from the 47th Long Course of the Pakistan Military Academy. It was the most junior course to fight in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He served as the Colonel commandant of the Baloch Regiment. His last appointment in the Army was as Chief of Logistics Staff at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

### Aide to the Governor of Balochistan

Shah had served as ADC to the Governor of Balochistan, Ahmad of Kalat, from 1974 to 1976.

### Aide to Musharraf

Shah was appointed as Military Secretary to President Musharraf, replacing Nadeem Taj. He took charge on 25 December 2003, the same day when there was a suicide attack on Musharraf in Rawalpindi. As his aide, he was actively involved in his two major diplomatic initiatives. First, to normalize strained relations with neighboring India, back-channel diplomacy was initiated to resolve the contentious issue of Kashmir. He participated in many meetings between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meetings and in Dehli in 2005.
The back-channel contacts and meetings lead to the formalization of the Musharraf-Manmohan 'Four Point' Formula which was to be inked during Manmohan Singh's visit to Pakistan in July 2007 but due to the events leading up to the 2007 Pakistani state of emergency & judicial crisis in Pakistan, the scheduled visit was cancelled and with it extinguished the hope of a resolution to the Kashmir dispute. Second, Musharraf's initiative of a rapprochement with Israel through informal contacts. Musharraf attended a dinner by the Jewish community in honor of him in New York on the sidelines of the September 2005 UN General Assembly meeting.

### As Commander IV Corps

Shah was made Commander IV Corps after the retirement of Commander IV Corps Lt. Gen. Shahid Aziz.
As Commander IV Corps he conceptualised and made first ever medical college associated with Combined Military Hospital Lahore in a span of five months .
He established the Cardiac Centre, Trauma, and Diagnostic centers at CMH Lahore. During Shah's tenure, to support a government initiative to establish a new university in Pakistan, the Pakistan Army’s Lahore Corps donated 80 Acres of Defence Housing Authority land to the Graz University of Technology to establish its campus. He also established a first ever polytechnic providing technical skills to the youth from all over Pakistan, by Army,with free boarding and lodging.

### Retirement

Shah retired on 9 November 2009 after serving as Chief Logistics Staff at the GHQ.

## Later life

After Shah's retirement, he served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Kingdom of Jordan. He is the author of "Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan", published in 1983. He has also written regularly for various magazines and newspapers. He was part of the Ottawa Dialogue on Track II diplomacy.

### Ambassador to Jordan

Shah was Ambassador to the Kingdom of Jordan, also accredited to the State of Palestine. At a ceremony marking the 70th Independence Day of Pakistan, he congratulated Jordanian writer Omar Nazar al Armouti for his book on the unresolved issues of Kashmir and Palestine. He was involved in the sale of Cobra helicopters and F-16 aircraft from Jordan to Pakistan.

### 2021 Pandora Papers leaks

It was reported in the Pandora Papers leaks by the ICIJ that Shah's wife bought a flat in London through an offshore transaction in 2007, allegedly for $1.2 million. He wrote on Twitter that the property's value was less than half of what was quoted in the leak, and that it is not illegal to buy property in the United Kingdom through an offshore company. According to him, he had bought the flat as an investment property in order to pay for his son's education. and it had been declared in all of his tax returns and even to the Army Authorities at the time of purchase .
He also doubted the intentions of the journalists who reported the story. He further tweeted that "one of the journalists involved with investigations, Malia Pulitzer, has recently stayed in India for 2 years and it is a typical RAW practice to malign Pakistan Army officers with criminals".
The names of more than 700 Pakistanis, including PPP and PTI ministers, were brought to light by the ICIJ in October 2021.

## Effective dates of promotion

| Rank | Date |
| Lieutenant General | November 2005 |
| Major General | January 2000 |
| Brigadier | July 1995 |
| Colonel | Promoted directly to Brigadier |
| Lieutenant Colonel | August 1988 |
| Major | July 1977 |
| Captain | June 1973 |
| Lieutenant | January 1972 |
| Second Lieutenant | 14 November 1971 |

## Awards and decorations

| Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) (Crescent of Excellence) | Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971) | Sitara-e-Harb 1971 War (War Star 1971) | Tamgha-e-Jang 1971 War (War Medal 1971) |
| Tamgha-e-Baqa (Nuclear Test Medal) 1998 | Tamgha-e-Istaqlal Pakistan (Escalation with India Medal) 2002 | 10 Years Service Medal | 20 Years Service Medal |
| 30 Years Service Medal | 35 Years Service Medal | Tamgha-e-Sad Saala Jashan-e- Wiladat-e-Quaid-e-Azam (100th Birth Anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah) 1976 | Hijri Tamgha (Hijri Medal) 1979 |
| Jamhuriat Tamgha (Democracy Medal) 1988 | Qarardad-e-Pakistan Tamgha (Resolution Day Golden Jubilee Medal) 1990 | Tamgha-e-Salgirah Pakistan (Independence Day Golden Jubilee Medal) 1997 | Command & Staff College Quetta Student Medal |