ISLAMABAD: The likely appointment of noted journalist Maleeha Lodhi as Ambassador to Washington is expected to be of significance in India Pakistan relations.

Dr.Lodhi is known to have an uncompromising stand on the nuclear and Kashmir issues, both of which are currently under focus in Washington, Her commitment to the cause of Pakistan’s nuclear program and Kashmir is well known and means that Pakistan would not be pressured into changing its stand by the US. Her nomination is also been an important signal by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to the US about her progressive policies and to show that Pakistan is not a religious hardliner as some of the US Administration would believe.

Dr.Lodhi is the first woman to become an editor of a national daily. Listing to the front ranks without any family connections, she has proved herself as an uncompromising commentator on Pakistan’s issues, she has the distinction of being Pakistan’s second journalist of any repute against whom the Government had filed a sedition case, which was later withdrawn due to public pressure.

By getting clearance for her nomination from the Pakistani Establishment in a record shortest period of time, Dr.Lodhi is expected to enjoy its support on her brand of diplomacy on the nuclear and Kashmir issues.

Although Dr.Lodhi, unlike many liberals, is not soft towards India, she has been in favor of a dialogue between the two neighbors at the same time she has been critical of the “Indian hegemony” in South Asia.

She has already started establishing Contracts in the US Administration. She not only believes in the two nation theory, the basis of Pakistan’s creation, but also maintains that a plebiscite in Kashmir is an extension of that theory and needs to be undertaken to complete the division of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan.

Diplomatic observers say that Dr.Lodhi, who is on a first name basis with Ms. Bhutto, would in fact be playing a major role in forming Pakistan’s foreign policy instead of merely implementing it.

Article extracted from this publication >>  November 12, 1993