Mushahid Hussain Sayed

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed has had a prolific career as an educator, journalist, Cabinet Minister, Senator, and author. He served as Minister for Information, Culture, Tourism, Sports & Youth Affairs, and he was also Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Strategic Communications, in addition to heading the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Central Asia. Senator Mushahid Hussain is recognized as one of the prominent voices on foreign affairs, politics, governance, and Pakistan’s foreign policy. As Editor of The Muslim, he was the architect of the first Pakistan–India Track II diplomacy in 1984. He also led Pakistan’s delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. Currently, he is Co-Chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), the largest organization of political parties in Asia, and in November 2025, he was unanimously elected Chairman of the Asia–Europe Political Forum (AEPF) in Budapest, Hungary. Senator Mushahid Hussain is also the co-author of one of the country’s first major studies on governance, Pakistan: Problems of Governance. He is currently working on a book based on his journalistic experiences as Editor of The Muslim. He is the founder of three think tanks: Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Pakistan–China Institute (PCI), and Pakistan–Africa Institute for Development & Research (PAIDAR). In May 2000, Amnesty International declared him a ‘Prisoner of Conscience’, as he was imprisoned without any charges for 440 days.