Ambassador Nadeem Riyaz is the current President of the Institute
of Regional Studies. He is a former diplomat who worked at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan for nearly 35 years.
Born in 1960, Ambassador Riyaz joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
in 1985 retiring this year. He holds a Master’s Degree in International
Relations from Columbia University, New York, USA with regional
specialization in South Asia. He also holds a Master’s degree in political
science from Government college, Lahore.
During the course of his long career with the Foreign office, he has
held many key positions at headquarters including Director Europe,
Director Administration, Director Foreign Service Academy and Additional
Foreign Secretary for Europe.
His positing abroad include, Second Secretary High Commission of
Pakistan, Pretoria, South Africa and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of
Pakistan Paris, France. He has served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to Italy
from October 2015 to February 2020. He was concurrently accredited to
Slovenia, Albania and San Marino. He has also served as Ambassador to
Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia from 2009 to 2013.
Ambassador Riyaz was Permanent Delegate to FAO, WFP and
IFAD. He was also served on the standing Committee of IDLO, Rome. He
also represented Pakistan as Deputy Alternate Permanent delegate to
UNESCO.
Ambassador Riyaz has been associated with teaching for over a
decade. He was a regular guest speaker at American University, Rome,
Loyola University, Rome, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Ca Foscari Venice
and University of Ljubljana. He has also lectured at University of Uppsala,
Sweden and a number of research institutions in Sweden, Finland, Italy
and Slovenia.
He is the author of Handbook for Diplomats of Pakistan, VVIP
Protocol and Cycling around Islamabad.
Ambassador Riyaz is a cricketer, golfer and an avid cyclist. His
hobbies include reading, restoring cars and hiking.
He lives in Islamabad. He has one son.