Feb. 16, 2007 -- Mahmud Ali Durrani, Pakistani Ambassador to the United States, will speak at U.Va. on Feb. 27 as part of the Ambassador Lecture Series.

Durrani, who has been ambassador since June 8, 2006, will speak on “Pakistan and United States Relations: Pakistani Domestic and Regional Challenges.” His talk, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature and Culture. It will be followed by a question and answer period and then a reception for the ambassador.

Born in 1941, Durrani graduated from the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and served in various command and instructional appointments during his army career, including as Pakistan’s defense and military attaché in Washington from 1977 to 1982, military secretary to the Pakistani president from 1983 to 1986, and chairman and chief executive of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board from 1992 to 1998.

Durrani also served in the Governing Council of the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London from 2001 to 2004. Since his retirement from the army, Durrani has been actively involved in working towards peace between India and Pakistan. As part of a process sponsored by the United Nations, he also worked with senior ex-officials from the United States, Russia and Iran to find a peaceful settlement of the Afghan crisis.

Durrani is the author of several books, most recently “Pakistan's Strategic Thinking and the Role of Nuclear Weapons.”  In addition, he is the author of “India and Pakistan: The Cost of Conflict and the Benefits of Peace,” and “Pakistan’s Security Imperatives Year 2000 and Beyond.”