Kamal Matinuddin


Kamal Matinuddin was a Pakistani general, diplomat and military historian. He authored works primarily on Pakistan's foreign policy, nuclear policy and military history.

Early life

Kamal Matinuddin was born in 1926 in what was then British India. He obtained his higher education from the University of Lucknow, before enrolling into the Indian Military Academy in 1946.

Military career

Following Pakistan's independence in 1947, Matinuddin was commissioned as a gunner in the 7th Field Regiment of the Royal Pakistan Artillery. He participated in the First Kashmir War, shelling enemy positions in the Bhimber sector. He studied at the Canadian Army Command and Staff College in Kingston, graduating in 1957. During his 34-year long service in the military, Matinuddin held various staff, instruction and command-related appointments, including heading an infantry division and assuming responsibility for operational planning as the Director General Joint Staff. He witnessed action in the Second Kashmir War and the 1971 War. In 1981, Matinuddin retired as a lieutenant-general from the Pakistan Army.

Diplomatic career

After retiring from the army, Matinuddin joined the Foreign Service and was appointed as Pakistan's ambassador to Thailand. He also served as Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok.

Defence analysis

Upon returning to Pakistan, Matinuddin became the director-general of the Islamabad-based think tank Institute of Strategic Studies. In his book Tragedy of Errors, Matinuddin addressed and studied – and wrote an eyewitness account of – the political causes, events and regional differences which underpinned the secession of East Pakistan. The book was translated by Muhammad Sheraz Dasti into Urdu and republished in 2018 as Naslon Ne Sazaa Payi. As a defence analyst, he wrote extensively on the conflict in Afghanistan and on Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

Works

Matinuddin died on 5 February 2017 at the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, aged 90 or 91. His funeral was held at the city's Race Course Ground.