Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury Bogra[a] (19 October 1909 – 23 January 1963) was a Pakistani Bengali politician, statesman, and a diplomat who served as third prime minister of Pakistan from 1953 to 1955.

[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] After his education at the Presidency College at the University of Calcutta, he started his political career on Muslim League's platform and joined the Bengal's provincial cabinet of then-Prime Minister H. S. Suhrawardy in the 1940s.

At home front, he successfully proposed the popular political formula that laid the foundation of the constitution in 1956 which made Pakistan a federal parliamentary republic.

Despite his popular initiatives, he lost his support to then-acting governor-general Iskandar Ali Mirza who re-appointed him as Pakistani Ambassador to the United States which he served until 1959.

[11]: 159 His father, Nawabzada Altaf Ali Chowdhury, educated at the St Xavier's College in Calcutta, was a prominent figure in Dacca and was also a local politician who served as the Vice-President of the Muslim League's East Bengal faction.

[18] He contested in the general elections on a Muslim League's platform held in 1937 from Bogra constituency and sat in the Opposition in the Bengal Legislative Assembly.

[11]: 10  He served in the opposition until 1943 when the Muslim League had gained political support and he was made parliamentary secretary to then-Chief Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin.

[9] Bogra supported the Muslim League's call for creation of Pakistan through the partition of British India and successfully defended his constituency in the general elections held in 1945.

[25]: 41–59 The issue of language movement in East in 1952, the rise of the Socialist Party in Pakistan as well as the violent riots in Lahore against the minority Ahmadiyya in 1953 were the defining factors that led to the dismissal of Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin by then-Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad on 17 April 1953.

[28] Bogra was recalled to Karachi (then-Federal capital) from Washington DC for further consultation but Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad moved to appointed him as a new Prime Minister and the President of the Muslim League (ML), which the party had accepted.

[42] The framework proposed the establishment of more effective bicameral parliament that would be composed of National Assembly and the Senate with equal representation from then-five provinces: Punjab, Khyber–Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Sindh, and Bengal.

[42] The Supreme Court of Pakistan was to be given more power and institutional judicial independence that would permanently replace the Islamic clergy to decide if a law was in accordance with the basic teachings of the Koran or not.

[42] The Bogra formulae was highly popular and widely welcomed by the people as opposed to the Basic Principles Committee led by Prime Minister Nazimuddin as it was seen as great enthusiasm amongst the masses as they considered it as a plan that could bridge the gulf between the two wings of Pakistan and would act as a source of unity for the country.

[42] The compromise did not settled to its ground when Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad, threatened by curbing of his powers, dissolved the Constituent Assembly in 1954 with the support of Pakistan military and civil bureaucracy.

The disappearance of these groups will strengthen the integrity of Pakistan...On 4 August 1955, the Cabinet accepted Governor-General Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad's request for a leave of absence due to ill health.

In 1959, he left the ambassadorial assignment after the then-Chief Martial Law Administrator Ayub Khan took control of the government from President Iskander Mirza in 1958.

[53] As foreign minister, he guided a pro-Western policy but made efforts to improve relations with the Soviet Union after witnessing the Western and American support India during the Chinese-Indian War in 1962.

[54] After visiting Soviet Union with President Ayub, Bogra quoted: There was no such thing as friends forever or enemies forever– only national interests count.

[54] During this time, his health became a serious issue and illness caused him to miss out the meeting over Kashmir but his deputy Zulfikar Ali Bhutto attended in the United States on 26 December 1962.