Maleeha Lodhi

Maleeha Lodhi (born 15 November 1962) is a Pakistani diplomat, political scientist, and a former Pakistan's Representative to the United Nations.

She was the first woman to hold the position.

Previously, she served as Pakistan's envoy to the Court of St James' and twice as its ambassador to the United States.

Her doctoral thesis was on "Bhutto, The Pakistan People's Party and political development in Pakistan:1971-1977."

She attended the London School of Economics in 1972 to study economics.

She received her BSc in Economics, specializing in political science in 1976, worked towards attaining PhD in political science, which she was awarded in 1980.

Born in Lahore to an upper-middle-class family, Lodhi studied political science at the London School of Economics and after receiving her doctorate from the school in 1980, she remained there as a member of the Government Dept] teaching political sociology.

She taught for a short while at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad in 1980, but returned to London to teach at the London School of Economics's Department of Government where she taught courses in political sociology until 1985.

She returned to Pakistan in 1986 to become the editor of The Muslim, making her the first woman to edit a national newspaper in Asia.

Lodhi returned to Pakistan in 1986 after martial law had been lifted.

Her phones were tapped and she was followed by intel sleuths all the time.

She joined and edited the English language newspaper The Muslim in 1987, making her the first woman in Asia to edit a national daily newspaper.

In 1990, she moved to become the founding editor of The News International. In 1994, she was appointed by Prime Minister Mr Nawaz Sharif as Pakistan's envoy to the United States, a position she retained until 1997. She was once again appointed to the same position in 1999 by [[Pervez Musharraf|President Musharraf until 2002 when she completed her tenure and moved on to be High Commissioner to the UK.

In 1990 she moved to become the founding editor of The News International where she remained until 1993 when she was appointed by Benazir Bhutto as the country's envoy to the United States.

Dr. Lodhi became the Pakistani Ambassador to the United States under two different administrations: from 1993–1996 and then during 1999–2002 (in the process becoming Pakistan's longest ever serving Ambassador to the US), before relinquishing her post on the completion of her second tour of duty.

The same source claims that she is said to have brokered Bhutto's access to the late chief of army staff, Asif Nawaz, which helped pave the way for Bhutto's return to power in 1993.

She has been named as an international scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and, in 1994, Lodhi was named by Time magazine as one of a hundred people in the world who will help to shape the 21st century.

Lodhi was also a member of the National Defence University's Senate, and has been a member of the advisory council of IISS and continues to be a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum.

In 1995, The New York Times published a letter from Lodhi critical of the time's editorial suggesting cutting aid to Pakistan writing that the editorial is "shocking as it echoes the argument of those who are least objective and rational on the issue."

She re-joined The News International 1997 as its chief editor and remained until 1999.

In 2001, Lodhi became a member of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament, she served on the board until 2005.

Since 2001, she has also served on the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Affairs (2001–2005) and continued to do so while holding the post of Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2003–2008).

According to the Los Angeles Times, During a trip of three U.S. senators to Islamabad, Benazir Bhutto introduced Lodhi by saying "Meet Maleeha. She's my strongest critic."

During her time as Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S she was present at the meeting on 12 September 2001, at the United States Department of State between Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Lieutenant General Mahmud Ahmed, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency.

The meeting served as pivotal in Pakistan's role in War on Terror.

In 2002, during an interview with CNN, she said that 'We have to draw a distinction here between rooting out terrorism and the issue of self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

These are two separate issues'.

In 2003, President Musharraf appointed her as Pakistan's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the Court of St James's, where she remained until 2008.

Lodhi is the recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz for Public Service and holds an honorary fellowship from the London School of Economics since 2004 and received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the London Metropolitan University in 2005.

She is the author of two books, Pakistan: The External Challenge and Pakistan's Encounter with Democracy.

Between 2008 and 2010, she served as a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics and the Kennedy School of Harvard University.

She edited Pakistan: Beyond the Crisis State in 2010.

Lodhi was born in Lahore, Punjab, to an upper-middle-class family.

Her father was the chief executive of a British-based oil company and was the first Pakistani head of a British company in Pakistan.

Her mother received an MA in journalism and was offered a scholarship to study in the United States after graduating, but gave up a career in journalism to become a homemaker and look after her children.

Lodhi has two siblings.

Lodhi was married to a banker in London, but they divorced after five years of marriage; together, they have a son named Faisal.

Lodhi first received her school education in Lahore and Rawalpindi, and then in the United Kingdom.

In February 2015, Lodhi was introduced by Prime Minister Sharif to serve as Permanent Representative and Ambassador of Pakistan to the UN in New York City, making her the first woman to hold the position.

Lodhi is one of Pakistan's prominent diplomats.