Hyderabad: Leading expert on Middle Eastern affairs Mr. Talmiz Ahmad, former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE, will deliver a lecture on The Middle East crisis and India’s challenges on June 8, at Civil Service Examination Coaching Academy, MANUU. The lecture will start at 11.00 am.
According to Prof. Amir Ullah Khan, Director, Academy, the lecture forms part of a series which are being organized for civil services aspirants.
Ahmad joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. During the last 36 years, he has acquired a special interest in the countries of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, having been posted early in his career in Kuwait, Baghdad and Sana’a, and later as Consul General in Jeddah (1987-90). He has also served in the Indian Missions in New York, London and Pretoria. He was appointed Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia in January 2000, after which he became the Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman in July 2003. In January 2010, he commenced his second stint as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Ahmad writes and lectures regularly on Political Islam, the politics of West Asia and energy security. His papers on energy have appeared in several books and journals. His book titled: Reform in the Arab World: External Influences and Regional Debates, was published in July 2005. His new book titled: Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarisms, was released in September 2010. In July 2011, the Saudi Government conferred on him the King Abdul Aziz Medal First Class for his contribution to the promotion of Indo – Saudi relations.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ahmed’s lecture will be preceded by a talk by Muzammil Khan who is the state topper in civil services examinations results this year. He is the 22nd All India rank holder in the UPSC examinations.
Muzammil Khan was selected two years ago and recently finished his probationary period as an officer with Indian Railways. However, he had been aiming for IAS and gave the exam during his service with the railways. Earlier he had worked as a Probationary Officer with the State Bank of India. Khan did his engineering course from BITS, Pilani. For the UPSC Mains exam, he chose Anthropology.