Maliha Lodhi

Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi PhD, HI
Lodhi (center) with fellow statesman Abdul Sattar in 2001
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 February 2015
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by	Masood Khan
17th Pakistan Ambassador to the United States
In office 17 December 1999 – 4 August 2002
President	Pervez Musharraf Muhammad Rafiq Tarar
Preceded by	Riaz Khokhar
Succeeded by	Ashraf Qazi
In office 21 January 1994 – 30 January 1997
President	Farooq Leghari
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif Benazir Bhutto
Preceded by	Syeda Abida Hussain
Succeeded by	Riaz Khokhar
High Commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom
In office 1 April 2003 – 14 June 2008
President	Pervez Musharraf
Prime Minister	Zafarullah Khan Jamali Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Shaukat Aziz
Preceded by	Abdul Kader Jaffer
Succeeded by	Wajid Shamsul Hasan
Personal details
Born	Maleeha Lodhi
Citizenship	Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Alma mater	London School of Economics
Occupation	Diplomat, military strategist, academician

External video

Ambassador Lodhi talked about Pakistan’s role in the U.S. lead coalition in Afghanistan and combating global terrorism. She also responded to viewer comments and questions.

Maleeha Lodhi PhD (Urdu: مليحه لودهى) is a Pakistani political scientist who serves as Pakistan's Representative to the United Nations, the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she served as Pakistan's envoy to the Court of St James's and twice as its ambassador to the United States.

Born in Lahore to a 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 their as a member of faculty teaching political sociology. She returned to Pakistan in 1986 to become the editor of The Muslim, making her the first women to edit a newspaper in Asia. In 1990, she moved to become the founding editor of The News International. In 1994, she was appointed by Benazir as Pakistan's envoy to the United States, a position she retained until 1997. She was once again appointed on the same position in 1999 by President Musharraf until he re-called her in 2002.

In 2001, Lodhi became a member of the United Nations Secretary General's Advisory Board on Disarmament, she served on the board until 2005. 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 she was re-called in 2008. Between 2008 and 2010, she served as a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School at Harvard University. In February 2015, Lodhi was appointed by Prime Minister Sharif to serve as Pakistan's Representative of Pakistan to the UN in New York City, making her the first women to hold the position.