On 22 July 2003 the IISS hosted a Special Round Table Discussion with General Jehangir Karamat (retd.), former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee & Chief of Army Staff, Pakistan. General Karamat is currently the Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States.
General Karamat was Pakistan's Army Chief from January 1996-October 1998, and concurrently, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from November 1997. Earlier, he held important command and staff appointments, including those of Chief of General Staff, Corps Commander, and Director General of Military Operations. In the mid-1980s, he served in Saudi Arabia as the Commander of the Independent Armoured Brigade Group. A graduate of the Pakistan's Military Academy, General Karamat joined the Armoured Corps of the Pakistan Army and served in combat in the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars.
During his military career, General Karamat led official delegations to China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Ukraine, Jordan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. He was a member of the Pakistani team during the India-Pakistan talks in 1990-91 at New Delhi and Islamabad. His international awards include the U.S. Legion of Merit and the Abdul Aziz Medal from Saudi Arabia. After his distinguished career in Pakistan's armed forces, General Karamat has continued to work on security issues in South Asia at the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation, the Brookings Institution and the Pakistan National Defence College. General Karamat is also the Chairman of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute in Pakistan.
At the IISS, General Karamat spoke on ‘The Evolving Situation in South Asia’. This meeting was off-the-record.
