Kamrul Ahsan (diplomat)


Kamrul Ahsan is a Bangladeshi diplomat. He is currently serving as his country's Ambassador to Russia. Prior to this, he was Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh.
Ahsan earlier also served as Bangladesh High Commissioner to Canada and Singapore. He was High Commissioner to Canada from September 2012 to May 2016. In Singapore, he served as High Commissioner from August 2007 to August 2012. He presented his credentials to His Excellency Sellapan Ramanathan, then President of the Republic of Singapore on 3 August 2007.
Kamrul Ahsan was non-resident Ambassador of Bangladesh to Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela and Jamaica from 2012-2016 while he was High Commissioner in Canada.

Early life and education

Ahsan was born at Noakhali in Bangladesh. He attended elementary and middle school in Comilla, Bangladesh at Our Lady of Fatima High School and Comilla Zilla School respectively. He studied at Dhaka College at higher secondary level. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 1984.
He also studied at Beijing Language and Culture University in China and attended a course on security matters at Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies at Hawaii, US.

Career

Kamrul Ahsan joined Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh as an Assistant Secretary in 1988 through a competitive examination conducted by Bangladesh Public Service Commission. Before that, he briefly worked in an engineering consultancy firm and later in Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board.
Ahsan served in various capacities at Bangladesh Embassies in Beijing, London, Washington DC and Dubai. In his first diplomatic assignment, from 1992 to 1995, he served as Second Secretary and First Secretary at Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing, China. From 1995 to 1999, he served at Bangladesh High Commission in London, United Kingdom initially as First Secretary and later as Counsellor.
At headquarters in Dhaka from 1999 to 2001, he served as Director, Director and Director. During this period, he was closely associated with Bangladesh-India negotiations on various issues.
From 2001 to 2003, he served as Political Counsellor at the Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC, United States. In September 2003, he was appointed as Bangladesh Consul General for Dubai and Northern Emirates, United Arab Emirates where he served till August 2007.
Kamrul Ahsan represented Bangladesh at different international negotiations. He was in the drafting group for Least Developed Countries during the Frame Convention on Climate Change Meetings in Geneva. He was Bangladesh Delegate to International Maritime Organization from 1996 to 1999. He also represented Bangladesh to the 'Shangri La Dialogue' in Singapore from 2008 to 2012.
He also helped to form the Bangladesh Business Chamber of Singapore.

Honours

Kamrul Ahsan was the Dean of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps in Singapore representing more than 70 resident Embassies and High Commissions there. In Canada, he also served as the Dean of the Asia Pacific Diplomatic Corps.
Kamrul Ahsan is a Life Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh. He is a Member of the Board of Governors of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies. He contributed to a book titled ’Little Red Dot, The: Reflections Of Foreign Ambassadors On Singapore - Volume III’ published by Institute of Public Policy, Singapore.

Personal

Ahsan is married to Saira Nazneen Ahsan and has two sons - Zoheb Ahsan and Aaryan Ahsan. His interests include travel, reading and cricket. He is also a short story writer.