LUMS Live Session 53: What Does a Biden Presidency Mean for Pakistan?

Join us for the fifty-third session of LUMS Live: What Does a Biden Presidency Mean for Pakistan? The distinguished panelists for the discussion include Mr. Jalil Abbas Jilani, Ms. Tehmina Janjua, Mr. Michael Kugelman, and Mr. Mosharraf Zaidi.

Date: Monday, November 23, 2020

Time: 4 pm (PST)

Moderated by Mehreen Zahra-Malik, the session will be broadcast live via the LUMS Facebook page. Please click here to listen to our panelists as they discuss the impact of the US elections on Pakistan.

During the session, please use the live stream's comments bar to ask questions or email them at ask@lums.edu.pk. 

After the session, kindly share your feedback and suggest future topics for discussion/guests here. 

Join us for this important conversation!  

Profiles of Panelists 

Mr. Jalil Abbas Jilani - Diplomat 
Mr. Jilani has 38 years of bilateral and multilateral experience as a career diplomat, having served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Belgium, Luxemburg and the European Union, and Australia. He was appointed the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in 2012, the top civil service official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A specialist in South Asian affairs, he has worked as Director General for South Asia and SAARC, Acting High Commissioner to India and Director (India) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2018, the Government of Pakistan nominated Mr. Jilani as member of the Experts and Eminent Persons Group of the ASEAN Regional Forum and later in 2019, as member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. He has also served as a Senior Fellow at leading international think tanks including the International Institute for Strategic Studies, UK and the United States Institute of Peace. He is also associated with the Center for Aerospace and Security Studies as Director. 

Ms. Tehmina Janjua - Diplomat 
Ms. Janjua was appointed as Pakistan's Foreign Secretary in 2017, becoming the first women to hold the highest career position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UN Geneva; Ambassador to Italy, accredited to Albania, Slovenia, FAO, IFAD and WFP. She has also served at UN New York and was Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry and Director General Strategic Planning. Ms. Janjua has held important staff appointments with the National Security Adviser and several Foreign Secretaries. She represented Pakistan in several International Conferences and presided over the Geneva based Conference on Disarmament in 2016. She was the first woman, and the first developing country representative, to preside over the Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in 2016. Ms. Janjua is currently a member of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. She holds Master’s degrees in International Affairs from Columbia University, and French Language and Literature from the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.

Mr. Michael Kugelman - Asia Program Deputy Director and Senior Associate for South Asia, Woodrow Wilson Center
Mr. Kugelman is a leading specialist on Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and their relations with the United States. In his role at the Wilson Center, he is responsible for research, programming, and publications on the region. Mr. Kugelman has published op-eds and commentaries in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Politico, CNN.com, Bloomberg View, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The Diplomat, Al Jazeera, and The National Interest, among others. He has also produced a number of longer publications on South Asia, including the edited volumes Pakistan’s Interminable Energy Crisis: Is There Any Way Out? (Wilson Center, 2015), Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (Wilson Center, 2014), and India’s Contemporary Security Challenges (Wilson Center, 2013). Mr. Kugelman has published policy briefs, journal articles, and book chapters on issues ranging across South Asia. He received his MA degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and his BA degree from the American University’s School of International Service.

Mr. Mosharraf Zaidi - Policy Analyst and Columnist
Mr. Zaidi is a public policy professional with over two decades of experience in complex political environments. He is the CEO of Tabadlab, a policy think tank. Mr. Zaidi’s most recent assignment was to lead the Alif Ailaan campaign to help address Pakistan’s education crisis. He has served as the CEO/Campaign Director from the campaign’s founding in 2013 to its end in August 2018. Mr. Zaidi has also served as a Former Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan, and has advised governments and international organisations on international aid, education, technology and trade. In 2014, he was honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. Mr. Zaidi writes a regular column for The News in Pakistan, and occasionally for other publications including Foreign Policy, the Indian Express, and The New York Times. He is a frequent contributor to television and radio.

Ms. Mehreen Zahra-Malik - Editor
Ms. Zahra-Malik is Senior Editor for Arab News, one of the largest English-language newspapers in the Middle East. She has previously served as Pakistan correspondent for Reuters, Deputy Editor at The News, and as the News Editor of The Friday Times. Her reportage has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, Newsweek, The New Republic, The Hindu, Indian Express, Tehelka, Dawn, Express Tribune, Daily Times, The Friday Times and others. She is a LUMS alumna and has an MA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.