page_title: Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Muhammad Zafarullah Khan / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Federal Structure Committee of the India Round-Table Conference at the St. James Palace in London, England. Lord Sankey is seen in the chair, with, on his left, Gandhi and Pandit Malaviya, will state the Congress case. September 14 1931. British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald to the right of Mahatma Gandhi, and fourth from the left in the foreground is Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, representative of the "Depressed Classes."
context_page_description: Chaudhry Sir Muhammad Zafarullah Khan KCSI was a Pakistani jurist and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Pakistan. After serving as foreign minister he continued his international career and was the first Asian and the only Pakistani to preside over the International Court of Justice. He also served as the President of the UN General Assembly. He is the only person till date to serve as the President of both UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice.
  Khan became one of the most vocal proponents of Pakistan and led the case for the separate nation in the Radcliffe Commission which drew the countries of modern-day South Asia. He moved to Karachi in August 1947 and became a member of Pakistan's first cabinet serving as the country's debut foreign minister under the Liaquat administration. He remained Pakistan's top diplomat until 1954 when he left to serve on the International Court of Justice and remained on the court as a judge until 1958 when he became the court's vice president. He left the Hague in 1961 to become the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, a position he served until 1964.
context_section_description: Muhammad Zafarullah Khan was elected a member of the Punjab Legislative Council in 1926 and presided at the Delhi meeting of the All-India Muslim League in 1931, where he advocated the cause of the Indian Muslims through his presidential address. He participated at the Round Table Conferences held from 1930 to 1932 and became the Minister of Railways in May 1935. In 1939, he represented India at the League of Nations. He was appointed the Agent General of India in China in 1942 and represented India as the Indian Government's nominee at the Commonwealth Relations Conference in 1945, where he spoke on India's cause for freedom.
  From 1935 to 1941, he was a member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India. Sir Zafarullah Khan  prepared a note on future of dominion status of India analyzing the future prospects of "Dominion Status". It took into account concerns of Muslims and ultimately proposed a plan for division of subcontinent. This note was sent to Lord Zetland, Secretary of State for India, as referred in a letter by Lord Linlithgow dated 12 March1940.
  Lord Linlithgow, however, had not a complete grasp of contents in the analytic note prepared by Sir Zafarullah khan at the time it was sent to Secretary of India. A copy of this note was sent to Jinnah. Sir Zafarullah khan's proposal of a two-state solution for Indian Federation was adopted by the Muslim League with a view to give it full publicity in the forthcoming session at Lahore 22–24 March.
  In September 1941, Zafarullah Khan was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of India, a position he held until June 1947. At the request of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he represented the Muslim League in July 1947 before the Radcliffe Boundary Commission and presented the case of the Muslims in a highly commendable manner. Zafarullah Khan advised the Nawab of Junagadh that if he decided to join his state with Pakistan, it would be both moral and legal. The Nawab then proceeded to announce his decision.
  In October 1947, Zafarullah Khan represented Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly as head of the Pakistani delegation and advocated the position of the Muslim world on the Palestinian issue. That year, he was appointed Pakistan's first Foreign Minister, a post he held for seven years. Between 1948 and 1954, he also represented Pakistan at the United Nations Security Council where he advocated the liberation of occupied Kashmir, Libya, Northern Ireland, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Indonesia.
  As Foreign Minister, he represented Pakistan at the Manila Treaty Conference in September 1954. Support for the Manila Pact in Pakistan was divided, with West Pakistan dominated army and a handful of leaders in favour of this, while most elected members of the Constituent Assembly from West Pakistan and all of the Assembly members from East Pakistan opposed it. Zafarullah signed the Manila Pact, committing Pakistan's accession to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
  In 1954, he became a Judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, a position he held until 1961. He was the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice from 1958 to 1961. Between 1961 and 1964, he was Pakistan's Permanent Representative at the United Nations. From 1962 to 1964, he was also the President of the UN General Assembly. He later rejoined the ICJ as a judge from 1964 to 1973, serving as President from 1970 to 1973.
caption: The Second Round Table Conference, 7 September 1931, with Zafarullah Khan seated to the rear of the table (closest to the camera)
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