The profound and enduring historic contributions of His Highness Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III, his son Prince Aly Khan, and his grandson His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV remain deeply embedded in the creation, progress, and socio-economic development of Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The legacy of the Aga Khan family was highlighted on Wednesday by the historic arrival of Prince Rahim Aga Khan V in Islamabad on his first official visit as the 50th spiritual leader of the Ismaili community. Upon his arrival at Nur Khan Airbase, Prince Rahim Aga Khan V was warmly received by President Asif Ali Zardari and First Lady Bibi Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.<\/p>\n
Following his arrival, a tri-services guard of honour was presented to the visiting dignitary at Aiwan-e-Sadr.<\/p>\n
President Zardari, the first lady, and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari held a meeting with Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, which was followed by delegation-level talks and an official banquet attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, COAS & CDF Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, federal ministers, members of parliament and members of the diplomatic community.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, President Zardari appreciated the Aga Khan Development Network\u2019s longstanding contributions to Pakistan in healthcare, education, community development, climate resilience and heritage conservation. He reaffirmed Pakistan\u2019s commitment to further strengthening cooperation with AKDN for the welfare and development of vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n
Prince Rahim\u2019s last visit to Pakistan was in 2024, when the president conferred upon him the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the nation\u2019s highest civilian award, in recognition of Aga Khan family\u2019s longstanding contributions to Pakistan.<\/p>\n
December 31, 1928 \u2013 Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, Aga Khan III presided at the All-India All Parties Moslem Conference in Delhi and a grand reception was 1 given in his honour.
\nThe roots of Aga Khan family\u2019s constructive relationship trace back to the foundational role Aga Khan III played in shaping Muslim political consciousness in British India. Long before the formal demand for Pakistan emerged, he emphasized Muslim unity and political autonomy. In 1906, he led the historic Simla Deputation to advocate for the political rights and representation of Muslims. In the same year, when the All-India Muslim League was established in Dhaka, Aga Khan III became its first permanent president, guiding its evolution into the principal political platform representing Muslims across the subcontinent.<\/p>\n
During the Round Table Conferences held in London between 1930 and 1932, Aga Khan III chaired and led important Muslim delegations. Alongside prominent leaders such as Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he advocated strongly for constitutional protections, separate electorates, and fair political representation.<\/p>\n
Following independence, his family continued to bolster the nation. Notably, Aga Khan III bought the strategic port city of Gwadar and gifted it to Pakistan. Furthermore, members of the family extended support to Pakistan\u2019s early diplomatic presence by handing over personal properties in New York and Egypt to be used as Pakistan embassies.<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s diplomatic legacy was carried forward by his son, Prince Aly Khan, who served as Pakistan\u2019s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1958 to 1960.<\/p>\n
Prince Karim Aga Khan IV expanded this legacy through the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). Working in close partnership with successive governments, AKDN has significantly contributed to socio-economic progress across Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral, and other underserved regions.<\/p>\n
AKDN established the internationally recognized Aga Khan University in Karachi in 1983 which operates over 450 health facilities across the country, including the premier Aga Khan University Hospital, benefiting over two million patients annually.<\/p>\n
The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) revolutionized livelihoods in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral through community mobilization, infrastructure, and women\u2019s empowerment, becoming an international model for participatory development.<\/p>\n
The Network\u2019s financial services evolved into formal entities like HBL Microfinance Bank, alongside HBL\u2019s commercial presence.<\/p>\n
In recognition of these exceptional lifelong contributions, Pakistan had honored Prince Karim Aga Khan IV with its highest civilian national awards, including the Nishan-e-Imtiaz and Nishan-e-Pakistan. This enduring commitment to national progress, development, and pluralism remains fully reflected in the ongoing historic engagement of the Aga Khan family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The profound and enduring historic contributions of His Highness Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III, his son Prince Aly Khan, and his grandson His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV remain deeply embedded in the creation, progress, and socio-economic development of Pakistan. The legacy of the Aga Khan family was highlighted on Wednesday by the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98029"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98043,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98029\/revisions\/98043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}