Shafaat Ullah Shah

Shah was born into a Syed family on 28 August 1953 in Lahore, Pakistan, to Syed Shafqat Ullah Shah who migrated from Hyderabad Deccan to Lahore in 1948. His father was an employee of the Prisons Department of Punjab and later became Inspector general of the Punjab Prisons from May 1981 to May 1983.{{cite web |url=https://prisons.punjab.gov.pk/our_igs |title=Our Inspector Generals | Punjab Prisons |publisher=Prisons.punjab.gov.pk |date=27 October 2017 |access-date=26 October 2022}}

He was enrolled in the Abbottabad Public School in class 7,{{Cite web |url=https://aps.edu.pk/proud-abtonians/ |title=Proud Abtonians |website=Abbottabad Public School |access-date=26 October 2022 |archive-date=24 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024125545/https://aps.edu.pk/proud-abtonians/ |url-status=dead }} and did his Faculty of Sciences (FSc) from there before he joined the Army. He wanted to become a doctor but wasn't selected into King Edward Medical University so his father made him join the Pakistan Army. He is also an honors graduate of the Staff College in Camberley and the National Defence College.

He holds master's degrees in political science and in strategic studies.{{cite web|url=https://na.gov.pk/uploads/documents/questions/1541138694_363.pdf|title=National Assembly Secretariat - Questions for Oral Answers and their Replies |date=2 November 2018|website=National Assembly of Pakistan}}

Shah is married to the daughter of (r) Brigadier Liaqat Bokhari (SJ).

Shah was commissioned into the Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan Army in 1971 from the 47th Long Course of the Pakistan Military Academy.{{Cite web |author=Lt Gen Shafaat Ullah Shah (R) |url=https://hilal.gov.pk/index.php/eng-article/fall-of-east-pakistan-remembered/MTYxNg==.html |title=Fall of East Pakistan Remembered |website=Hilal English |language=en}} It was the most junior course to fight in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.{{Cite journal |url=https://orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/IssueBrief_11b.pdf |title=Pakistan: New Generals on the Block |date=September 2007 |volume=11 |journal=ORF Issue Brief |publisher=Observer Research Foundation |last1=John |first1=Wilson |language=en |pages=4–5}} He served as the Colonel commandant of the Baloch Regiment.{{Cite press release |title=Installation Ceremony Colonel Commandant of the Baloch Regiment |url=https://ispr.gov.pk/press-release-detail.php?id=327 |date=26 April 2008 |journal=Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR)}} His last appointment in the Army was as Chief of Logistics Staff at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

File:ADCShafaat.png (left) and Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (right)]]

Shah had served as ADC to the Governor of Balochistan, Ahmad of Kalat, from 1974 to 1976.{{cite tweet |user=INFANTRY28 |author=Shafaat Shah |number=1147559550503047168 |title=I had known MG Bukhara when he was IG FC & I was ADC to Governor Baluchistan.A very handsome, composed & professional officer.May Allah Bless his soul.I am amazed how his daughter can be so anti Pakistan & anti that very Army for which her father had pledged to lay even his life?|access-date=26 October 2022}}

File:MSShah.jpg at the annual military parade on the 65th anniversary of Resolution Day (23 March 2005)]]

Shah was appointed as Military Secretary to President Musharraf, replacing Nadeem Taj. He took charge on 25 December 2003, the same day when there was a suicide attack on Musharraf in Rawalpindi.{{cite web |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1919095/reality-pulwama-incident |title=The reality of Pulwama incident |newspaper=The Express Tribune |date=26 February 2019|access-date=26 October 2022}} As his aide, he was actively involved in his two major diplomatic initiatives. First, to normalize strained relations with neighboring India, back-channel diplomacy was initiated to resolve the contentious issue of Kashmir. He participated in many meetings between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meetings and in Dehli in 2005.{{Cite news |title=Musharraf Begins Visit to India |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/musharraf-begins-visit-to-india-1.1176161 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=16 April 2005 |language=en}}

The back-channel contacts and meetings lead to the formalization of the Musharraf-Manmohan 'Four Point' Formula which was to be inked during Manmohan Singh's visit to Pakistan in July 2007{{Cite web |url=https://www.hilal.gov.pk/index.php/her-article/one-on-one-with-vaneeza-ahmed/Mzk2MQ==.html |title=Kashmir: The Way Forward |work=Hilal For Her |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026212632/https://www.hilal.gov.pk/index.php/her-article/one-on-one-with-vaneeza-ahmed/Mzk2MQ==.html |archive-date=26 October 2022 |url-status=live}} but due to the events leading up to the 2007 Pakistani state of emergency & judicial crisis in Pakistan, the scheduled visit was cancelled and with it extinguished the hope of a resolution to the Kashmir dispute. Second, Musharraf's initiative of a rapprochement with Israel through informal contacts.{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1442182 |title=2005: When Pakistan and Israel explored closer bilateral ties |date=30 October 2018 |newspaper=Dawn}} Musharraf attended a dinner by the Jewish community in honor of him in New York on the sidelines of the September 2005 UN General Assembly meeting.{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRECB-2005-pt16/html/CRECB-2005-pt16-Pg21373-4.htm |title=Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 16 - Speech of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to the American Jewish Council for World Jewry |publisher=United States Government Publishing Office |date=27 September 2005 |access-date=26 October 2022}}

Shah was made Commander IV Corps after the retirement of Commander IV Corps Lt. Gen. Shahid Aziz.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

As Commander IV Corps he conceptualised and made first ever medical college associated with Combined Military Hospital Lahore in a span of five months .{{cite web |url=https://www.brecorder.com/news/3464119 |title=Role of medical profession highlighted |date=17 December 2007}}

He established the Cardiac Centre, Trauma, and Diagnostic centers at CMH Lahore.{{Cite press release |title=No PR-166/2008 of March, 29, 2008 |url=https://ispr.gov.pk/press-release-detail.php?id=361|journal=Inter Service Public Relations}} During Shah's tenure, to support a government initiative to establish a new university in Pakistan, the Pakistan Army's Lahore Corps donated 80 Acres of Defence Housing Authority land to the Graz University of Technology to establish its campus.{{Cite news |title=Work opens on S&T varsity |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/219609/newspaper/newspaper/column |newspaper=Dawn |date= November 19, 2006}} He also established a first ever polytechnic providing technical skills to the youth from all over Pakistan, by Army,with free boarding and lodging.

Shah retired on 9 November 2009 after serving as Chief Logistics Staff at the GHQ.

After Shah's retirement, he served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to the Kingdom of Jordan.{{cite web |url=https://www.jordantimes.com/opinion/shafaat-ullah-shah/deep-rooted-brotherly-relations |title=Deep-rooted, brotherly relations |date=31 August 2017}} He is the author of "Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan", published in 1983. He has also written regularly for various magazines and newspapers. He was part of the Ottawa Dialogue on Track II diplomacy.

Shah was Ambassador to the Kingdom of Jordan, also accredited to the State of Palestine. At a ceremony marking the 70th Independence Day of Pakistan, he congratulated Jordanian writer Omar Nazar al Armouti for his book on the unresolved issues of Kashmir and Palestine.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/223637-Pakistans-70th-Independence-Day-marked-in-Jordan |title=Pakistan's 70th Independence Day marked in Jordan |newspaper=The News International |date=15 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815045530/https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/223637-Pakistans-70th-Independence-Day-marked-in-Jordan |archive-date=15 August 2017 |url-status=live |location=Amman}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/153655-pakistans-70th-independence-day-celebrated-in-jordan |title=Pakistan's 71st Independence Day celebrated in Jordan |date=15 August 2017 |work=Geo TV |language=en |location=Amman}} He was involved in the sale of Cobra helicopters and F-16 aircraft from Jordan to Pakistan.{{Cite news |url=https://jordantimes.com/news/local/amman-islamabad-relations-their-best-%E2%80%94-pakistani-ambassador |title=Amman-Islamabad relations at their best — Pakistani ambassador |newspaper=Jordan Times |date=22 March 2017 |author=Dana Al Emam}}

It was reported in the Pandora Papers leaks by the ICIJ that Shah's wife bought a flat in London through an offshore transaction in 2007, allegedly for $1.2 million.{{Cite web|url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/373908-it-is-raw-practice-to-malign-pak-army-officers-shafaat-shah-reacts-to-pandora-papers|title=Shafaat Shah reacts to Pandora Papers, says property transaction misrepresented|website=www.geo.tv}}{{cite web | url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/pakistan-imran-khan-prime-minister-allies-offshore/ | title=Prime Minister Imran Khan promised 'new Pakistan' but members of his inner circle secretly moved millions offshore - ICIJ | date=3 October 2021 }} He wrote on Twitter that the property's value was less than half of what was quoted in the leak, and that it is not illegal to buy property in the United Kingdom through an offshore company.{{Cite news |url=https://thepakistandaily.com/gen-r-shafaat-shah-offers-clarification-after-being-named-in-pandora-papers/ |title=Gen (R) Shafaat Shah offers clarification after being named in Pandora Papers |language=en |date=4 October 2021 |newspaper=The Pakistan Daily |location=Islamabad}}

According to him, he had bought the flat as an investment property in order to pay for his son's education.{{Cite tweet |first=SHAFAAT |last=SHAH |user=INFANTRY28 |number=1444884269051039745 |title=Education of my son and due to depreciation of Rs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004043732/https://twitter.com/INFANTRY28/status/1444884269051039745 |archive-date=4 October 2021 |url-status=live |link=no}} and it had been declared in all of his tax returns and even to the Army Authorities at the time of purchase .

He also doubted the intentions of the journalists who reported the story. He further tweeted that "one of the journalists involved with investigations, Malia Pulitzer, has recently stayed in India for 2 years and it is a typical RAW practice to malign Pakistan Army officers with criminals".

The names of more than 700 Pakistanis, including PPP and PTI ministers, were brought to light by the ICIJ in October 2021.{{cite web |url=https://arynews.tv/700-pakistanis-pandora-papers-leak/ |title=More than 700 Pakistanis named in Pandora Papers leak |date=3 October 2021|work=ARY News}}

{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Shafaat Ullah}}

Category:Living people

Category:1953 births

Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Jordan

Category:Pakistan Army lieutenant generals

Category:People named in the Pandora Papers

Category:Recipients of Hilal-i-Imtiaz

Category:People from Lahore

Category:Pakistan Military Academy alumni

Category:Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Category:Baloch Regiment officers

Category:Graduates of the Staff College, Camberley

Category:National Defence University, Pakistan alumni

Category:University of Balochistan alumni

Category:Quaid-i-Azam University alumni

Category:Pakistani military writers

Category:Pakistani diplomats

Category:Military personnel from Lahore

Category:Pakistani people of Hyderabadi descent