1. Mushahid Hussain Syed is a Pakistani politician, and journalist who is currently the Pakistan Senator from the Islamabad Capital Territory on the platform of the Pakistan Muslim League, since 3 March 2018.
17 Facts About Mushahid Hussain
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Mushahid Hussain is known as a proponent for strengthening the foreign relations with China and Central Asia, having served the Chairman of the China-Pakistan Institute, a lobbying firm based in Islamabad.
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Mushahid Hussain Syed was born in Sialkot, Punjab in Pakistan into a military Punjabi family on 2 November 1952.
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Mushahid Hussain's father, Amjad Hussain Syed, was an army officer in the Pakistan Army, retiring with rank of army colonel; his mother, Sameen Sayed, was a social activist.
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Mushahid Hussain is the fourth of five children, and both his parents were activists in the Pakistan Movement prior to 1947.
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Mushahid Hussain served as the visiting professor on the topics of international relations at the Punjab University but was terminated from his employment when he spoke on a rally to oppose the martial law government in October 1979.
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Mushahid Hussain joined The Hindustan Times where he wrote the syndicated column.
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Mushahid Hussain advised the Prime Minister Sharif on the issues relating to the foreign relations with the United States, India, and the geostrategy in Central Asia, and was later elevated as the Minister of Communications.
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In 1998, when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ordered the nuclear tests in Rajasthan, Mushahid Hussain was the first cabinet minister who spoke in the favor of conducting the reciprocated nuclear tests during the decision-making process.
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Mushahid Hussain later went onto speak on the CNN, Fox News, and the Face the Nation on CBS News to defend the decision to conduct nuclear tests.
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In 2003, Mushahid Hussain agreed upon a deal with the Musharraf administration and joined the forward block, the PML, led by Shujaat Mushahid Hussain and ultimately ran for the senate elections held in 2002.
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Mushahid Hussain's credibility was greatly questioned in an editorial written in Dawn, the political correspondent, where Ziauddin claimed that Hussain filed for "nomination papers for the Senate elections reportedly with a letter of recommendation from Washington, DC" In 2004, he joined the taskforce as the President Musharraf's special envoy to begin negotiate with the Baloch political leader Akbar Bugti, an ally of Benazir Bhutto, which eventually failed.
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On 4 June 2012, Mushahid Hussain was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Senate Defence Committee chairman.
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On 1 October 2009, Mushahid Hussain founded the Pakistan China Institute to promote the bilateral relations with China.
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Mushahid Hussain has consistently lobbied for strengthening the relations with China and the Central Asian republics.
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Mushahid Hussain expressed apprehension about the United States' role in Pakistan while endorsing a deepening of relations with China.
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Mushahid Hussain written political books covering the issues of civilian control of the military, geostrategy, and governance.