Md Jashim Uddin, currently serving as the Bangladesh Ambassador to China, Md Shameem Ahsan, currently serving as Bangladesh High commissioner to Malaysia, Khondker M Talha, currently serving as Bangladesh Ambassador to France, Md. Ruhul Alam Siddique, currently serving as Bangladesh High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan, M. Riaz Hamidullah, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Asad Alam Siam, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations (Vienna) and Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are in the race to become the next Foreign Secretary of the Bangladesh government, sources said.

The tenure of incumbent Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen is expected to end 6 December, 2024, sources said.

Sources said a good number of officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have expressed deep dissatisfaction over some activities of Masud Bin Momen during the student movement in July and August.

While briefing the foreign diplomats in Dhaka over the recent student movement, Former Foreign Minister of the Awami League government Dr Hasan Mahmud and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen hid the fact of killings of students, political activists and innocent persons in the firing of law enforcing agencies. The blatant lie of FS causes uproar among Mofa officials.   

Meanwhile, the previous Awami League government extended the tenure of Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen by two more years under a contractual appointment effective from 6 December, 2022 or from the date of his joining.

Masud joined as Foreign Secretary on 31 December 2019. As a career diplomat, he has long been serving in different capacities at the Headquarters and Bangladesh's Missions abroad.

Meanwhile, Md. Jashim Uddin, a career diplomat and the Bangladesh Ambassador to China, belongs to the 13th batch of the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS). Sources said that he also has a good connection with the current political leadership.  

The previous government appointed Ambassador Md. Jashim Uddin as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to China. He replaced Ambassador Mahbub Uz Zaman in this capacity. 

Earlier he was the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Greece, with concurrent accreditation to Malta and Albania. In his illustrious diplomatic career, Ambassador Jashim has the experience of serving at different Bangladesh Missions such as New Delhi, Tokyo, Washington DC and Islamabad in different capacities.  Also at the headquarters, he held important positions like Director General of both South Asia and East Asia & Pacific Wings. 

Ambassador Jashim obtained his Bachelor and Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Dhaka. He also obtained a Master’s degree in Modern International Studies from University of Leeds in England. He completed NDC course from National Defense College in Dhaka in 2014.

Under the able leadership of Ambassador Md. Jashim Uddin, Bangladesh Embassy in Athens received the prestigious Public Administration Award in 2018 for bringing about innovative changes to ensure efficient consular service delivery.  

In his personal life, Jashim is married and blessed with two children.

Meanwhile, M. Riaz Hamidullah, a career diplomat of the 15th BCS, is now working as the Additional Foreign Secretary of the Bangladesh government at the headquarters. He stood first among his batch mates.   

He was appointed Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2020.

M. Riaz Hamidullah earned a bachelor’s and postgraduate degree in Economics in India and Bangladesh. He later joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in 1995 and served a good part of his career in the area of multilateral economic diplomacy. Regarding his assignments abroad, he first served at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York from 1999 to 2003. It was not long afterward that he became a mid-career political officer at the Bangladesh Mission in New Delhi, India from 2003 to 2005.

In the period between 2005 and 2011, Mr. Riaz focused on South Asian regional cooperation. This includes a three-and-a-half-year stint as Director in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretariat in Kathmandu. While holding this position, he dealt with, inter alia, regional agriculture and rural development, transport connectivity, the SAARC Development Fund, and the development of regional projects. In addition, he contributed towards the development and reorganization of SAARC institutions and processes.

In 2012, Riaz moved on to become the Director-General in charge of European and EU Affairs at the Bangladeshi MOFA. He guided Bangladesh’s economic engagements with several European countries and the country’s entry into the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process. From 2013, Mr. Riaz served as the Director-General in Multilateral Economic Affairs for three years, during which he worked on sustainable development, climate change, migration, development finance, and blue economy, among other things.

He also shepherded Bangladesh’s engagement in a range of multilateral processes like the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In addition, Mr. Riaz served as the lead interlocutor and negotiator on the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact on the ready-made garment (RMG) and textile industry vis-à-vis the US and EU, as well as matters related to the Responsible Business Conduct. Furthermore, he has anchored Bangladesh’s engagement in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC).

From 2017, Mr. Riaz served as the point man on Bangladesh’s engagements at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Simultaneously, he served as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka from August 2016 to July 2020. Following this term, he took over as the Ambassador-designate of Bangladesh to the Netherlands on July 6th, 2020.

Meanwhile, Asad Alam Siam, a career diplomat of the 15th BCS, is Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations (Vienna). During his career, Siam has served in various capacities, among them:

Inspector General of Missions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2022-present); Rector, Foreign Service Academy, Dhaka (2021-2022); Ambassador, Embassy in Manila, the Philippines (2018-2021); Chief of Protocol (2014-2017); Director General, Europe Wing (2013-2014); Consul General, Consulate General in Milan, Italy (2011-2013); Assistant High Commissioner in Manchester, United Kingdom (2008-2011); Director, Foreign Minister’s Office (2006-2007); Director, Foreign Secretary’s Office (2005-2006); Counsellor, Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand (2002-2005); First Secretary, Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia (1999-2002); and Assistant Secretary, Ministry (1995-1999).

Mr. Siam holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with distinction from the Maastricht School of Management, the Netherlands, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

He speaks Bangla and English.

Md. Ruhul Alam Siddique, a career diplomat and currently serving as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan, belongs to the 11th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS)

The government appointed Md. Ruhul Alam Siddique as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Pakistan in 2020.

High Commissioner-designate Siddique is a career diplomat belonging to the 11th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre, aforeign ministry press release said here.

Siddique served in various capacities in foreign ministry and Bangladesh Missions in Singapore, Berlin, New Delhi and Karachi.

He obtained his Masters in Public Administration from the University of Dhaka while completed another masters in Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Monash University in Australia.

Meanwhile, Khondker M Talha, a career diplomat of the 15th BCS batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), is now Bangladesh Ambassador to France.

In his overseas assignments, he served at the Bangladesh Permanent Missions to the UN in New York and Geneva, where he was elected to the bureau of a number of UN and international organizations.

He was also posted to the Bangladesh missions in Tehran and London during his diplomatic career.

Previously, he also served as the chief of protocol and worked at the South Asia and Multilateral Economic Affairs wings of the ministry in various capacities.

Talha holds a Masters degree in Economics from Dhaka University, an MBA from DU’s Institute of Business Administration, and another Masters in Foreign Affairs and Trade from Monash University, Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Md.  Shameem Ahsan, is also career diplomat of the 13th BCS batch, is now High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Malaysia since October 19, 2023.

Born on September 1, 1966 at his home-town Pirojpur, Ambassador Ahsan was educated at the University of Dhaka and has a Masters & Honors in Political Science (First Class First in both) from the same University.

He stood first in order of merit in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination under Jessore Board in Humanities (1984) and received the Chancellor's Award from the President. Also received numerous awards throughout his student life for his outstanding academic feat.

A career Bangladeshi diplomat with a wide range of experience(bilateral, multilateral) and skills gained near three decades of international assignments in Rome(2004-2008, 2020-2023), Abuja(2018-2020), New York(2018-2018), Washington DC(2008-2011), Nairobi(1997-2002),Doha (1996-1997),Kuwait(1995-1996) and at the Headquarters(Dhaka) including three Ambassadorial appointments(Nigeria with concurrent accreditation to Angola, Republic of Congo, Gambia, and Liberia, Italy with concurrent accreditation to Montenegro and Serbia and Permanent Representative to FAO,IFAD and WFP, Rome and currently in Malaysia). Worked as Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh at Public Diplomacy Wing and Europe Wing (2011,2013-2014).  Work at various Desks (1993-1995 & 2002) at the Foreign Office (UN, Multilateral Economic Affairs, SAARC, Americas and Pacific) helped deepen his knowledge and understanding about international and regional issues.

Throughout his career, he was extensively involved in political negotiations, preparing drafts/reports and documents, analysing them, and briefing the officials at home and abroad. High Commissioner Ahsan has demonstrated his leadership ability and competence as the Head of Mission in New York (Consul General), Nigeria, Italy and currently in Malaysia while leading large teams in each station.

Mr. Ahsan assumed as President of the 36-member Executive Board of the Rome-based WFP (World Food Programme, world’s largest humanitarian organization) on 28 February 2022 following election of Bangladesh unanimously as the President of the Board for the year 2022 for the first time in its First Regular Session (28 February-3 March,2022). He successfully served as the President for the year 2022. As President of the EB of WFP ,  it had been his distinct privilege to lead  the Executive Board to make its decisions by consensus and to ensure that every effort had been made to achieve consensus. Mr. Ahsan was also elected a Member of the Bureau of the Executive Board of the WFP in June,2023.

High Commissioner Ahsan gained insight and wide knowledge as he participated Summits (7th SAARC Summit,1993, Dhaka,12th SAARC Summit,2004, Islamabad, XII NAM Summit in 1998, Durban), numerous international conferences/seminars, symposiums at home and abroad on global issues such as climate change, human settlements and habitat, trade, regional cooperation, intellectual property, among others.

An ardent debater throughout his student life, Ambassador Ahsan enjoys reciting poems. He won a gold medal in his school life (1980) for the best written essay at the national level.

Married to Pandora Chowdhury, they have a daughter.

Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, a career diplomat of the 15th BCS, is now working as the Additional Foreign Secretary of the Bangladesh government at the headquarters

 He joined the Mission on 12 March 2020 as the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the Kingdom of Bahrain. He belongs to the 1995 batch of Bangladesh Foreign Service.

Prior to his appointment as Bangladesh Ambassador to Bahrain, he was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 2015 to February 2020, and concurrently Bangladesh Ambassador to the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition based in Riyadh from October 2018 to November 2019. He also served concurrently as Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation from 2015 to 2019.

In about two and half decade long career as a diplomat, he served as Chargé d’affaires at Bangladesh Embassy in Beirut from July 2014 to June 2015, Counsellor at Bangladesh High Commission in Canberra from 2007 to 2010, First Secretary at Bangladesh Embassy in Baghdad in 2002 to 2003, and Second Secretary at Bangladesh Embassy in Seoul from 1999 to 2002.

Ambassador Dr. Islam did domestic assignments in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his capacity as Director General (West and Central Asia) and Director General (Parliamentary Affairs) from 2011 to 2014, Director (SAARC and BIMSTEC) from 2004 to 2006, and desk officers at different sections.

 He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Water Policy and Governance from the University of New England, Australia, Masters and Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Dhaka. He is married to Mrs. Najmun Nahar Habib and is blessed with three sons.

Upon the completion of his tenure as the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Kingdom of Bahrain on 07 September 2023, H.E. Md. Nazrul Islam departed the Kingdom and returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh as the Additional Foreign Secretary (Bilateral - East & West) and the Inspector General of Missions