Zulfiqar Ali Khan

Zulfikar Ali Khan was born in Lahore, Punjab, British India, on 10 December 1930. He attended a local school in Lahore where he did his matriculation. From 1947, he attended the Military College Jhelum, but joined the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in 1948 when he transferred to the Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur, NWFP in Pakistan. In the 1960s, Squadron-Leader Khan was educated at the Air War College, where he earned a degree in staff course. In 1965, Sq-Ldr. Zulfikar Ali Khan participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, commanding No. 9 Squadron Griffins against the Indian Air Force. In 1968, he was promoted to group captain and was posted in East Pakistan, where he was appointed as officer commanding of operations wing of Dacca Air Base, under its Air Officer Commanding, Air Cdre. Inamul Haq. No. 9 Sq. Griffins, and AOC of the Sargodha Air Force Base. ==Chief of Air Staff==

In 1974, Air-Cdre. Zulfiqar Ali Khan was promoted to air vice marshal and was appointed as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff of Aerial Planning at the Air Headquarters in Islamabad but was later posted as Director-General of Air Operations. The appointment was controversial since Air-Marshal Zafar Chaudhry resigned, and Air-Marshal Khan had succeeded seven senior air officers in the Air Force. In 1975, he helped established the Northern Air Command, based in PAF Base Kalabagh, oversaw the induction of the MiG-15 as a jet trainer, establishment of the Air Defence Command, and provided his support to rebuilding Mirage III aircraft at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. On 1 January 1976, Air-Mshl. Khan was promoted to four-star rank, air chief marshal (ACM), becoming the first four-star officer in the Pakistan Air Force. Over the issue of clandestine atomic bomb programme, ACM Zulfiqar Ali Khan reportedly advised Prime Minister Bhutto against the acquisition of the aging A-7 and F-5 military aircraft in order to stop the work on the reprocessing plant for plutonium development, noting that "atomic bomb programme should not stop for any reason be compromised." On 5 July 1978, ACM Zulfikar Ali Khan was appointed Deputy CMLA along with naval chief Admiral Moh'd Sharif, army chief General Zia-ul-Haq, and Chairman joint chiefs General Muh'd Shariff after the military coup d'état against the civilian government led by Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto. On 22 July 1978, ACM Zulfiqar Ali Khan tendered his resignation from the command of the air force over the disagreement with the military take over of the civilian government, and handed over the command to newly appointed ACM Anwar Shamim. ==Foreign service==

Upon retirement, Zulfikar Ali Khan joined the Foreign Service and was appointed Pakistan's ambassador to Switzerland, serving from 1979 to 1981. In 1989, he was appointed as chief investigator to lead investigations on possible military funding to political parties by the intelligence community. In 1989, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appointed him as the Pakistan Ambassador to the United States in Washington DC. However, his tenureship was marked with controversy involving the continuation of atomic deterrence, which he failed to cover up in the United States. In 1990, he was recalled to Pakistan after serving as ambassador for only a year. ==Death==

On 8 March 2005, Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan died of cardiac arrest in Islamabad when he suffered a heart attack at his residence and was taken to the PAF Hospital, but the doctors pronounced him dead. Begum Sajida Zulifqar, wife of Air Chief Marshal Zulifqar Ali Khan, died on 30 September 2012 and her funeral prayers were attended by all former PAF Air Chiefs, politicians, bureaucrats, senior serving and retired military officials and a large number of people from all walks of life. == Awards and decorations ==

Foreign decorations ==References==