Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury

Chowdhury joined the Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Cadre in January 1991 after placing second in the combined merit list of the 9th Bangladesh Civil Service examination.^[5][6] Throughout his diplomatic career, he held a wide range of positions both domestically and internationally.^[5]

Chowdhury served as the Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York.^[5] He also served as the Consul General of Bangladesh in New York and Minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in London.^[5] He held ambassadorial-level assignments as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Mauritius.^[5] In 2014, he was appointed the first High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the Seychelles.^[7] In 2015, he was appointed the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to South Africa.^[6]

Between March and October 2021, Chowdhury was appointed as the Rector of the Foreign Service Academy.^[8][9] He was posted to Bangladesh Missions in Beijing and Brussels and held various roles within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka, including Director General.^[5] He later served as Secretary (West) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until his retirement on 2 April 2023.^[10][5] As the acting foreign secretary of Bangladesh, he organised an event marking the historic 7 March Speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Foreign Service Academy in 2023.^[11] He attended a meeting with Derek Chollet, US State Department Counsellor, in which AK Abdul Momen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, sought support for developing the Rapid Action Battalion.^[12]

Following his retirement from the foreign service, Chowdhury was appointed a Member of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission on 2 March 2025.^[13]

Shabbir Ahmad Chowdhury is married to Abeda Ahmad Chowdhury.^[5] The couple has two sons.^[5]