Sahabzada Yaqub Khan Lieutenant - General Yaqub Ali Khan ( Urdu : ; born 23 December 1920 ) was a high - profile figure and high - ranking general who held the most senior and prestigious military and government assignments in the Pakistan Government , and was also the primary the international face of Pakistan for three decades , first served as the Foreign minister , military government of President General Zia - ul - Haq from 1982 to 1991 until the dying days of Cold War , and then also served as the caretaker Foreign minister from 1996 to 1997 . Educated and received commission in the army after attending the Rashtriya Indian Military College , Yaqub Khan served well in World War II on behalf of British Indian Army , his military career saw the actions in Operation Tobruk , and later opted for Pakistan , joining the staff of Pakistan Army . As Major - General , he commanded the combantant 1st Armoured Division during the 1965 September war against India and posted in East - Pakistan shortly after the war was ended . In 1967 , he was elevated as the Chief of General Staff of the Eastern Military High Command under Vice - Admiral Syed Mohammad Ahsan and succeeded Admiral Ahsan as commander of eastern command in 1971 . After failing to restore peace , Yaqub Khan was re - called to West - Pakistan where he commanded the combatant corps against India , and took voluntarily retirement from the army . In 1973 , he entered in foreign service assuming the diplomatic post of Pakistan Ambassador to the United States . Soviet Union and France , which he held until 1979 . Upon his return , he was re - called for his military service by then - Chief of Army Staff General Zia - ul - Haq in 1980 , re - assuming the foreign military in 1982 . Yaqub Ali Khan became an international figure when he played a central role in the UN - sanctioned negotiations to end the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan Soviet Socialist Republic , and also took part to end the civil war in Nicaragua , as he was the point man of the United Nations . Since 1990 , Khan associated with the United Nations , served at the special representative of U . N . for Western Sahara and was finally reappointed as Foreign Minister in 1996 . As a result of 1997 parliamentary elections , Yaqub Ali Khan took subsequent retirement from the foreign service and settled in USA where he continues to spend his later life in peace . Origin and youth . Yaqub Khan belongs to the Pashtun royal family of the erstwhile Indian princely state of Rampur . His father , Sahibzada Sir Abdus Samad Khan Bahadur , was a statesman and diplomat who at various points in his career served as chief minister of the state of Rampur , and as British India ' s representative to the League of Nations . Yaqub Ali Khan ' s connections can be traced to Nawab Mirza Ghalib who was appointed teacher of Nawab of Rampur in 1857 , who travelled to Rampur twice , in 1860 and 1865 . Sahabzada Yaqub Khan studied at the famous Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College , Dehradun . He was commissioned on 22 December 1940 and attached to 18th King Edward ' s Own Cavalry , part of 3rd Indian Motor Brigade . He served in North Africa during World War II with the British Indian Army , taking part in action at El Mechili with A squadron and the Siege of Tobruk . He was promoted lieutenant on 3 April 1942 . Acting as the regimental Signal officer he was taken prisoner in on 27 May 1942 at Point 171 , and spent the next three years in an Axis prisoner - of - war camp before being released at the end of the war . After independence , he opted for Pakistan , where he went on to enjoy a distinguished career in the Pakistani Army . Rising to the rank Lieutenant General , Yaqub Khan served as " Chief of General Staff " , " Commander Eastern Command " , and briefly after the resignation of Vice Admiral S . M . Ahsan , " Governor of East Pakistan " . Diplomatic career . On retiring from the Army he embarked on a career as a diplomat , serving as Ambassador to France , the United States and Soviet Union from 1972 to 1982 . While posted in USA , he also played a major role in the resolution of 1977 Hanafi Siege in Washington , D . C . Since 1982 he served as Foreign Minister under seven different governments . Then from 1992 until 1997 Yaqub Khan was the United Nations Secretary General ' s Special Representative for the Western Sahara . Post career . Sahabzada Yaqub Khan is the founding chairman of the Aga Khan University Board of Trustees , which he chaired for almost two decades until his retirement in 2001 . He was a commissioner in the now retired Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict . Sahabzada Yaqub Khan is married to Begum Tuba Khaleeli , of the prominent Iranian Khaleeli family of Calcutta , and has two sons , Samad and Najib . He is settled in America ( USA ) .