Daily Times

Veteran diplomat Jamsheed Veeri Marker passed away in Karachi on Thursday.

Among other assignments, Markar remained Pakistan’s top envoy to the United States and several other countries in a diplomatic career spanning over three decades. He also earned the distinction as the world’s longest-serving ambassador, for which his name has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Fluent in languages including French, German and Russian, Markar also worked as a cricket commentator on radio.

In 1965, Marker as appointed Pakistani High Commissioner to Ghana with concurrent accreditation to Guineau and Mali. He represented the country in Romania, France, former USSR, Finland, Canada, Japan and United Nations.

Marker was born in 1922 to a Parsi family with ties to shipping and pharmaceutical business. He attended The Doon School in United India’s Uttarakhand state. Later, he attended the Forman Christian College in Lahore.

Expressing condolences over the death of Marker, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday, “Ambassador Marker was a distinguished Pakistani diplomat and a strong proponent of Pakistan’s global outreach. His quiet diplomacy and dignified demeanor made him one of the most effective Ambassadors in Pakistan’s history, and won him friends and accolades the world over.”

It added, “Ambassador Marker’s illustrious career, spanning some three decades of service, saw him take important stints inter alia in Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, Washington, New York and Geneva. He will always be held in high esteem, not only as an outstanding professional who effectively projected Pakistan’s interests, and served the noble cause of international peace, but also as a gentle and affectionate soul who invested deeply in the well-being of those around him, and the betterment of the country he represented.”

Published in Daily Times, June 22^nd 2018.