WASHINGTON, 7 August — Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, who served two terms as ambassador in Washington, returned to Pakistan. And, in an unprecedented move, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week bid her a fond farewell.
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, inserted a statement in the Congressional Record, which records statements for eternity, praising Ambassador Maleeha’s contributions to the war on terrorism and for her role in the reduction of tensions between Pakistan and India.
“Ambassador Maleeha has served her country with exceptional distinction,” said Sen. Biden. “Her prior experience as both an academic and a journalist has proved to be a great advantage.
She has always articulated her government’s position with the precision of a scholar and the persuasive reach of a news analyst.”
It was Maleeha who ended the standoff between the US and Pakistan regarding F- 16 jets that Pakistan had bought from the US.
Citing a reluctance to release the F- 16s, the US held both the jets, and Pakistan’s money in escrow for a number of years.
Maleeha, who managed a diplomatic breakthrough, obtained most of the money Pakistan had used to buy the F-16 Fighting Falcons jets.
When Benazir Bhutto’s government collapsed, Maleeha returned to Pakistan — she served from 1994 to 1997 – and returned to her former job as editor of The News, an English-language daily, and wrote against media repression by the previous government.
Maleeha surprised some of her colleagues when, in 1999, she agreed to return to Washington under Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s rule.
Maleeha’s two-year assignment was a nightmare by diplomatic standards: she returned to her post in Washington just when an Indian airliner was hijacked by insurgents from Kashmir in December – which India blamed on Pakistan – and ended with the nuclear standoff between the two archrivals still threatening regional peace.
After the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, Maleeha said she used the diplomatic opportunity that the tragedy presented to help Pakistan improve its bilateral ties with Washington.
She dismissed speculation that she was forced from her job by military hawks in Gen. Musharraf’s government, who were upset over the outcome of the latest row with India over Kashmir.
Maleeha made clear that she was leaving in full agreement with Musharraf, and that she had completed her task here.
“I have done my bit and I am moving on,” she said.
A debate over constitutional amendments defining the powers of the selfappointed president will have over the elected prime minister dominates the Pakistani media.
The key question many are now asking is if the president has the power to fire his prime minister.
“The papers are full of this constitutional stuff. By staying here I will be missing out on all the excitement. I want to go and take in how all this is going to turn out,” Maleeha told the Washington Post. Noting her diplomatic agility, Sen. Biden said: “She has played an invaluable role in harmonizing the various goals shared by Pakistan and the United States, goals ranging from advancing the international war on terror to de-escalating nuclear tensions in South Asia.”
Sen. Biden also applauded Maleeha for representing the “many voices of moderation, tolerance and progressive thinking all across the Muslim world.”
“Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has – by her words and her personal example – helped bridge the chasm of understanding between the United States and the Muslim world,” he said.
This was not the only award Maleeha was recently given.
Last month, she received the Ambassador of the Year Award from the DC-based Women Ambassadors Foundation; presented by Robin Lynne Raphel, vice president of the National Defense University and a former assistant secretary of state for South Asia.
During the awards dinner, Raphel praised the ambassador “for always focusing on the future and never lamenting the past and bringing the government in Islamabad along with her.”
As for what she will do upon return to Pakistan, Maleeha told Arab News she would ponder that “once I’m on the airplane going home.” Her first priority, she said, was a two-week vacation.
But she did admit she was considering either joining the Pakistan’s political fray – or returning to journalism – or both.
She mentioned the possibility of rejoining her old media group, which is embarking on a new cable television venture, or of writing a book.
She admits that she has not ruled out a future role in diplomacy.
