The government of Pakistan has appointed women diplomats in some important capitals of the world. These ladies are well educated, confident, have previous experience in working in the Foreign Office.
They have been appointed to represent their countries on the basis of seniority. The ladies have proved their mettle as they have handled some difficult situations tactfully.
Dr. Maleeha Lodhi is one of them. She was born on 15th November, 1952in Lahore. She is a Pakistani diplomat, military strategist and political scientist and a former Pakistan’s representative to the United Nations.
She was the first woman to hold the position. She is also author of the book “Pakistan’s Encounter with Democracy”. She has been awarded with Hilal-i-Imtiaz.
Dr. Maleeha Lodhi is the only woman diplomat with no Foreign Service background. She got her education from London School of Economics and Political Science. She was posted in the U.S when the 9/11 tragedy occurred. Again during her tenure as an envoy to the U.K, she had to face the 7/11 crisis.
Under both situations, Pakistan was under immense pressure and Maleeha managed the two delicate situations quite well. Most women diplomats have been appointed as envoys to European countries because of better security conditions. But some ladies have faced hostile situations too and have managed the affairs quite gracefully.
Following are the female diplomats who are serving or have served Pakistan as ambassadors:
⦁ Fauzia Abbas (Denmark/ Switzerland)
⦁ Humaira Hasan (Romania/ Spain)
⦁ Riffat Iqbal (Ireland/Zimbabwe)
⦁ Durre Shahwar Qureshi (Kazakhstan)
⦁ Fauzia Nasreen (Nepal/Poland/Fiji)
⦁ Shaheen Safdar (Portugal)
⦁ Kausar Ahsan Iqbal (Algeria/Bulgaria)
⦁ Asma Anisa (Monaco/France)
⦁ Tasnim Aslam(Italy)
⦁ Atiya Mahmood (Jordan)
⦁ Naela Chohan( Argentina/ Uruguay/ Peru /Ecuador)
⦁ Seema Naqvi (Egypt)
⦁ Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan (Netherlands)
