Mahmoud Saikal
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His Excellency Mahmoud Saikal |
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Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Afghanistan 
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Assumed office October 27, 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Zahir Tanin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1962 (age 54–55) Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Alma mater | Deakin University, Melbourne |
| Website | Permanent Representative of Afghanistan |
Mahmoud Saikal (born 1962 in Kabul) is the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations. Saikal is a senior Afghan diplomat and an international development specialist.
Saikal was born and raised in the Old City of Kabul. He graduated with a French Baccalaureate from Lycee Esteqlal, Kabul in 1979. During the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan, Saikal left his second year at Kabul University to finish his studies in Australia. He is a graduate of University of Canberra, 1986, and University of Sydney in 1988. He also holds a Master's degree in International Development from Deakin University in Australia. He is fluent in Dari (Farsi), Pashto, and English, and is familiar with French and Arabic.
Saikal started his diplomatic career as the First Secretary and later as Counselor at the Afghan Embassy in Tokyo, Japan in 1993. In late 1994, he went on to serve as Honorary Consul of Afghanistan to Australia, until 2002 when he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Afghanistan to Australia and New Zealand. Saikal was recalled to Kabul in 2005 to accept the position of Afghan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs under President Karzai. He stepped down from his position in the Ministry in late 2006 and joined the UNDP as an Advisor on Afghanistan National Development Strategy, while concurrently becoming a Fellow at the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy.
Between 2012 and 2015, Saikal convened a Track II regional process between Afghanistan and its neighbors, resulting in the Joint Declaration on Regional Peace and Stability. In 2014, Saikal was appointed Special Representative and Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive of Afghanistan.
His work has resulted in Afghanistan’s membership in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC). He was also instrumental in the formulation of the process of Regional Economic Cooperation Conferences on Afghanistan (RECCA).
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