Ahmed, Aziz, 1906-

Aziz Ahmed, OBE, HPk (Urdu: عزیز احمد; 24 June 1906 – 23 October 1982) was a career Pakistani statesman and a diplomat during the Cold War, serving in the capacity as 13th Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1973 until 1977. Prior to that, Ahmad served as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States (1959–63) and eventually appointed Foreign secretary (1960–67) by President Ayub Khan. He initially gained national prominence when he served as the Foreign secretary under then-Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and opted for retirement in the opposition of Tashkent Agreement, signed by Ayub Khan to maintain and hold ceasefire with India in 1965. After the general elections in 1970 and the subsequent war with India in 1971, Ahmad was appointed the Foreign minister of Pakistan until being terminated by President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq after issuing criticism against the military coup d'état in 1977. Upon retirement from the Foreign Service, Ahmed lived a quiet life in Islamabad and died in 1982. According to historian Prabhas Chandra Lahiri, Aziz Ahmed was responsible for planning the Anderson Bridge massacre.