Athar Abbas

Ambassador Athar Abbas served in the Pakistan Army from 1976 to 2012 and retired at the rank of Major General. He is a graduate of the Command and Staff College, Quetta, and the Armed Forces Staff College, Malaysia. He attended the Armed Forces War Course and the National Defence Course at the National Defence University in Islamabad. He holds Master’s degrees in War Studies and Strategic Studies and has served on the faculties of Staff College and Defence University. Before retiring from the army, Ambassador Abbas served as the Chief Military Spokesman and Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations from 2008 to 2012. He delivers lectures on national security, counter-terrorism/violent extremism, civil-military relations, and the media’s role in conflict. He comments on these subjects in national and international publications and participates in seminars at home and abroad. He is an active member of Pak-India Track-II diplomacy. He has worked as a security consultant with the World Bank and Mitsubishi Corporation and remained on the board of directors of Phillip Morris (Pakistan) Limited. His last assignment was as Pakistan’s ambassador to Ukraine.