Dr Maleeha takes charge as envoy to UN

NEW YORK: Dr Maleeha Lodhi, assuming the charge as Pakistan’s first woman ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations on Thursday, vowed to “protect and defend” the country’s vital interests at the world body.
“It is a great honour and privilege to represent Pakistan at such a critical moment for the country and a time when the world is undergoing fundamental changes,” she said in an interview with APP after her arrival here.
Some of these changes pose new challenges, while others offer opportunities, she said.Responding to a question, the envoy said, “First and foremost to protect and promote Pakistan’s vital national interests and ensure that the country’s policies and views on critical issues are clearly articulated and fully understood”.
Ambassador Lodhi’s remarks appear to suggest her keenness to change the narrative about Pakistan by placing the accent on the positive while trying to build understanding about how purposively Pakistan is addressing its many challenges.
Elaborating on Pakistan’s national priorities, she said, “the establishment of internal peace and stability is the overriding priority, which entails a robust law enforcement campaign that is underway, aimed at defeating militancy and countering violent extremism”. Pakistani diplomats, she said, need to build a better international understanding of this campaign as well as support for these efforts.
Among Pakistan’s other priorities is to promote stabilisation in Afghanistan and to secure Pakistan’s western border, Dr. Lodhi said. To that end, Pakistan is actively engaged in efforts to help Afghan government in its objective to initiate an intra-Afghan dialogue that can eventually secure a durable peace.
Another key priority for Pakistan is to promote peace and stability in South Asia. This, she said, involves addressing the issue of Kashmir and the present fraught border situation with India.
Ambassador Lodhi said as 2015 is going to be an important year at the UN, which would mark the 70th anniversary of its founding, there will be a host of issues to address and many events to participate in.
“We will, in the course of the year, have to evolve the post-2015 development agenda, hopefully conclude a new climate change treaty after an important summit in Paris, as well as consider proposals for UN reform”. Pakistan has a principled position on UN Security Council reform in accordance with democratic ideals, which it will continue to forcefully advance together with like-minded countries.
International peacekeeping will be another key area, she pointed out. Pakistan has long been a leading nation in its contribution to the maintenance of international peace and security. “Since 1960, over 150,000 of our personnel have served with professionalism and distinction in 41 UN missions in different parts of the world”.
Today, she said, Pakistan is the second largest troop-contributor to UN peacekeeping missions and is expected to be number one later this year. And she added, Pakistan can be proud of its role in some of the prominent successes of peacekeeping, she said, adding, Pakistani women have also distinguished themselves in peacekeeping.
Ambassador Lodhi brings rich diplomatic experience to her new assignment. She has twice served as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US and for five years as the country’s High Commissioner to UK.
A well-known figure in international academic circles and in America’s think tank community, she looks forward to promoting Pakistan’s views in these important forums and to counter negative perceptions about Pakistan. She said she is also keen to promote Pakistan’s economic interests both at international forums and in New York’s financial community.