Hilaly was born in 1911 in
Bangalore. He joined the
Indian Civil Service in 1936 at the age of 25, and opted for Pakistan during the
independence of
Pakistan in 1947 and settled in Pakistan along with his family in 1947. He was Pakistani Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries with residence in
Stockholm from 1956 to 1959. This way he facilitated the secret visit of
Henry Kissinger to China, a fact acknowledged by President
Richard Nixon and a symbol of a bold reversal of US policy towards an avowed enemy state. His younger brother
Agha Shahi also an ICS officer followed in his footsteps and rose to be Foreign Minister of Pakistan. One of their uncles Sir
Mirza Ismail served as Diwan
Prime Minister of the princely state of
Mysore,
Jaipur and
Hyderabad, India from 1926 to 1947. His nephew
Akbar Mirza Khaleeli was a prominent Indian Diplomat and served as Indian Ambassador to Iran, Italy and Australia and was Advisor to the Indian Government on Middle Eastern Affairs. His son
Zafar Hilaly is also a former ambassador of
Pakistan. ==Death==