Shaikh joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1961. During his 38 years of service, he served as Pakistan's ambassador to Canada (1987–1989), ambassador to West Germany (1989–1990), ambassador to the United States (1990–1991) and ambassador to Iran (1992–1994). He then served as Foreign Secretary from 1994 to 1997, later replaced by Shamshad Ahmad. He has also served as Pakistan's special envoy to Yemen, Sudan, Kenya and Bahrain (February 2005).[4]
Other activities
Shaikh has been a member of the board of governors of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad and senior vice president of the Karachi Council of Foreign Relations. He used to write a weekly column on foreign affairs for the Dawn newspaper and now writes for the Daily Pakistan newspaper.