Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Sartah Aziz passed away, 24News HD TV channel reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said in his Twitter message, "Mr Sartaj Aziz has passed away. He was a veteran of the Pakistan movement & great asset to the nation. He will be missed very much. His services to the nation will always be remembered. I had the honour of working with him very closely and will never forget his affection and guidance. May Allah Bless his soul and Grant patience to the family Ameen."
https://twitter.com/betterpakistan/status/1742231633300988304?t=m0ommM79HymjL4IeBop98g&s=08
Sartaj Aziz born on 7th February 1929 in a Pashtun Kakakhel family in Nowshera. He was a Pakistani economist and strategist, having previously served as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, member of the federal cabinet as the de facto Minister for Foreign Affairs, a Federal Senator as well as the National Security Advisor.
He as a student was an activist in the Pakistan Movement. Aziz went on to study economics at Punjab University and later studied public administration at Harvard Kennedy School. He served as a civil servant from 1952 to 1971 within Pakistan's federal government, also serving as the joint secretary in the planning commission between 1967 and 1971. In 1971, Aziz joined the Food and Agriculture Organization and served as its Director of Commodities, only to move to the International Fund for Agricultural Development where he served as the Assistant President, Policy and Planning between December 1977 to April 1984.
Aziz returned to Pakistan in 1984 and served as a junior minister for Agriculture and Food Security until 1988 under the conservative Junejo administration. He was elected to the Senate of Pakistan in 1988 and re-elected in 1993 from the center-right PML-N, and served in both Sharif administrations first as the Minister of Finance from August 1990 to June 1993 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from August 1998 until 1999 coup d'état.
In 2004, he moved to academia, and became the vice-chancellor of Beaconhouse National University; he also taught at economics at the university. He also served as the National Security Advisor between 2013 and 2015.
Sartaj Aziz was educated at Islamia College of Lahore and then obtained a bachelor's degree in economics from the Punjab University in 1949. Aziz joined the civil service in 1950 and later traveled to the United States and earned a master's degree in development economics from Harvard University in 1963.
For his participation in the Pakistan movement, Aziz is the holder of the Sanad, Mujahid-e-Pakistan. In 1959, he was awarded the Tamgha-e-Pakistan and the Sitara-e-Khidmat in 1967 for his work in central planning and economic development. He was awarded Mujahid-e-Pakistan Medal (1947), Tamgha-e-Pakistan (Medal of Pakistan) (1959), and Sitara-e-Khidmat (Star of Service) 1967.
Sartaj Aziz also wrote books including Agricultural policies for the 1990s, and Privatisation in Pakistan.