Born in Lahore on 24 February 1947, Ishtiaq Ahmed holds a PhD in Political Science from Stockholm University, and was Senior research Fellow and Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

He is now Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University and Honorary Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. His research interests cover diverse fields like political Islam, ethnicity and nationalism, human and minority rights, and partition studies.