General Durrani was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1961 and retired as a major general in 1998. He served as Pakistan's Ambassador to the US from 2006 to 2008, and then as National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 2008 to 2009.

He continues to be active in working toward peace in South Asia as a member of a group of high-level Pakistanis and Indians. He is author of "India and Pakistan: The Cost of Conflict and the Benefits of Peace" (Johns Hopkins University, 2000).