Veteran diplomat Jamsheed Marker passes away

KARACHI: Veteran diplomat and one of the pioneers of cricket commentary in the country, Jamsheed Marker passed away here on Thursday at the age of 95.

Marker, holding the honour of being the world’s longest serving envoy, represented his country as ambassador to 10 different capitals besides being assigned with no less than nine concurrent positions during a diplomatic career spread over a period of 30 years.

In these years, he efficiently represented his motherland at different international forums. In recognition of his services, Marker was awarded with Sitara-e-Quaid-e-Azam and Hilal-e-Imtiaz, further conferred with doctorate degrees by prestigious universities of the country.

Marker, serving as UN’s under secretary general and special adviser to Secretary General of UN Kofi Annan, was internationally acclaimed for his contribution towards the solution of Timor conflict. In the very capacity, he also served as UN special envoy to East Timor in 1999. The man who belonged to the Pakistan's highly educated Parsi community was born on November 24, 1922 in Karachi and had his education at prestigious institutions of the world. His death is being equally mourned by all people of Pakistan for losing not only a strong nationalist but also a sports lover as well as great humanitarian. –APP

NNI: Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for serving as an ambassador to a record number of countries, Marker was Pakistan’s top envoy to the United States and other countries in a diplomatic career spanning over three decades.

The Hilal-e-Imtiaz recipient was also an accomplished cricket commentator and was fluent in English, Urdu, Gujarati, French, German and Russian. He is survived by his daughter and wife, family sources said.

Fluent in languages including French, German and Russian, Marker also did cricket commentary on radio. In 1965, Marker was appointed as Pakistan High Commissioner to Ghana with concurrent accreditation to Guinea and Mali. He represented Islamabad in Romania, France, former USSR, Finland, Canada, Japan and the United Nations.