The Board of Trustees of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), at its meeting held on 20 August 2026, approved the appointment of five Ambassadorial Trustees to the AIT Board of Trustees, on the endorsement of the Board Nominating Committee. The Board approved the appointment of five new Ambassadorial Trustees, namely the Ambassadors of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan to the Kingdom of Thailand.
The newly appointed and renewed Ambassadorial Trustees are:
- H.E. Mr. Puneet Agrawal, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Thailand, succeeding H.E. Mr. Nagesh Singh
- H.E. Mr. Hari Prabowo, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, succeeding H.E. Mr. Rachmat Budiman
- H.E. Datuk Wan Zaidi bin Wan Abdullah, Ambassador of Malaysia, succeeding H.E. Dato’ Jojie Samuel
- H.E. Mr. Andalib Elias, Ambassador of Bangladesh, succeeding H.E. Mr. Faiyaz Murshid Kazi
- H.E. Ms. Saadia Altaf Qazi, Ambassador-Designate of Pakistan, succeeding H.E. Ms. Rukhsana Afzaal
AIT warmly welcomes the incoming Trustees and places on record its deep appreciation to the outgoing Ambassadorial Trustees for their valuable guidance, advocacy and support to the Institute during their tenure on the Board. The Ambassadorial Trustees represent AIT partner governments with whom the Institute has long-standing and close collaboration spanning student scholarships and fellowships, joint research, capacity-building programmes, alumni networks and regional development partnerships. Their countries are home to a large and distinguished body of AIT alumni who continue to serve in senior positions in government, academia, industry and international organizations. AIT looks forward to their continued support, counsel and engagement as the Institute advances its mission of developing highly qualified and committed professionals for the sustainable development of the region.
Profiles of the Ambassadorial Trustees
H.E. Mr. Puneet Agrawal – Ambassador of India
H.E. Mr. Puneet Agrawal assumed charge as Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Thailand on 2 May 2026. A member of the Indian Foreign Service since 1997, his diplomatic assignments have included postings in Berlin (1999–2002), Thimphu (2005–2009) and Vienna (2009–2013). He served as Consul General of India in Hong Kong from 2016 to 2019, and as Ambassador/Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva from 2019 to 2022.
At the Ministry of External Affairs he has handled matters relating to West Europe (2002–2005) and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar (2013–2014), and has served as Joint Secretary (UNES) from 2015 to 2016, Joint Secretary (IOR and CNV&I) from 2022 to 2024, Additional Secretary (IOR) from 2024 to 2026, and Additional Secretary (Administration) from January to April 2026. Ambassador Agrawal holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He hails from Uttar Pradesh and is fluent in German, in addition to Hindi and English.
H.E. Mr. Hari Prabowo – Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Mr. Hari Prabowo is Ambassador of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Thailand since March 2026. He previously served as Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York from January 2023 to March 2026.
Within Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served as Director for Development, Economic and Environmental Affairs (2021–2022) – also serving ex officio as Indonesia’s Sous-Sherpa
for the G20 and as a core member of the Indonesian G20 Presidency Team in 2022 – as well as Director for Trade, Commodity and Intellectual Property (2019–2021), Coordinator of Indonesia’s UN Security Council Task Force (2018–2019), Deputy Director for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Cooperation (2016–2018), and Private Secretary to the Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs (2009–2013).
His foreign postings include Counsellor for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Indonesia in Tokyo (2013–2016) and Second Secretary for Political Affairs at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York (2006–2009). He has served as a lead negotiator and core member of Indonesian negotiating teams at the UN, G20, WTO and various bilateral commissions on issues including trade, climate change, human rights and digital cooperation.
Born in 1976, Ambassador Prabowo holds a master’s degree in Diplomacy and Trade from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He also undertook an exchange programme at the University of Tokyo, Japan.
H.E. Datuk Wan Zaidi bin Wan Abdullah – Ambassador of Malaysia
H.E. Datuk Wan Zaidi bin Wan Abdullah hails from Johor and holds a degree in Town and Regional Planning from the University of Dundee, Scotland. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia in 1994 as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer.
Prior to his current appointment as Ambassador of Malaysia to Thailand, he served as Ambassador of Malaysia to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. His earlier overseas postings include High Commissioner of Malaysia to Sri Lanka (2016–2018), Consul General of Malaysia in Mumbai, India (2007–2011), and assignments at Malaysian diplomatic missions in London, Tripoli and Madrid.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he has held several senior positions, including Chief of Protocol, Deputy Chief of Protocol (Ceremonial), Director of the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR), and Deputy Head of the ASEAN 2015 Main Logistics Secretariat. He has also served in the Department of Multilateral Affairs.
H.E. Mr. Andalib Elias – Ambassador of Bangladesh
H.E. Mr. Andalib Elias brings more than 25 years of experience in the diplomatic service of Bangladesh. His areas of expertise include trade and development, climate change, migration, LDC graduation and South-South cooperation.
He served as Chair of the LDC Group in Geneva and New York, and as Chief Negotiator of the Group of 77 on economic and financial issues on several occasions. In addition to the Bangladesh Missions to the UN in Geneva and New York, he has served at the Bangladesh Embassies in Manila and Brussels and at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata.
As Director General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was in charge of the Multilateral Economic Affairs Wing and the West Europe and European Union Wing. He served as Head of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata before taking up his appointment as Bangladesh High Commissioner in Colombo in 2024. He joined in the Embassy of Bangladesh in Bangkok in June 2026.
H.E. Ms. Saadia Altaf Qazi – Ambassador-Designate of Pakistan
H.E. Ms. Saadia Altaf Qazi is a distinguished Pakistani career diplomat, currently designated as Ambassador of Pakistan to the Kingdom of Thailand. She most recently served as Ambassador of Pakistan to the Kingdom of Norway in Oslo from January 2023, where her work focused on strengthening economic, political and maritime ties. Based in Oslo, she was also concurrently accredited as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland.
Prior to her ambassadorial appointment, she held senior leadership roles at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad as Director General for Human Resource and Career Planning (2020–2023) and Director General of the Kashmir Cell (2019–2020).
Her international portfolio also includes service as Deputy Head of Mission in Manila, Philippines (2016–2019), Consul in Houston, United States (2013–2016), and First Secretary in Brussels, Belgium (2006–2009), complemented by earlier assignments in Islamabad as Director, Deputy Director and Assistant Director.
She is an alumnus of the world-renowned French Civil Service Institute, l’Ecole Nationale d’Administration (l’ENA), wherefrom she obtained Master’s degree in Public Administration in 2005 with distinction. She is fluent in Punjabi, Urdu, English and French languages.
