Islamabad, October 1: Ripping off Pakistan on the international platform, Indian Representative Vidisha Maitra left Pakistan, representative, Maleeha Lodhi embarrassed and Imran Khan red-faced at the UNGA session. Baffled and perplexed, to avoid further more embarrassment, Imran Khan made major reshuffle in his Ministry of Foreign Affairs by replacing Maleeha Lodhi with ambassador Munir Akram as Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. A doomed Pakistan now has a domestic assaulter as its Permanent Representative at UN who will speak on atrocities on people! Interesting!
Trying her level best to demean India at UN, Maleeha Lodhi failed miserably. Some of her ‘achievements’ where, when she used fake pictures of Palestine claiming to be from Kashmir. Other major embarrassment and misinformed Pakistan replicates when she referred British Prime Minister as Foreign Minister. As the entire world knows how cash crunched Pakistan is, the Pak Representative to UN, Maleeha Lodhi welcomed Imran Khan with a doormat sized red carpet.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Munir Akram has been appointed as Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York on Monday. Munir Akram has served as Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN previously as well, holding the office for six years between 2002 and 2008. He was dismissed by the then president Asif Ali Zardari over his disagreement in presenting the case of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto to the United Nations.
Interestingly, Akram had also courted controversy after he was accused of domestic violence by his partner, Marijana Mihic, in December 2002 while serving as Pakistan's ambassador to the UN. The case was reportedly settled out of the court and he was not charged with the crime due to his diplomatic immunity.
Has Pakistan made the right decision replacing Maleeha Lodhi with Munir Akram? Well, knowing the decisions Pakistan has made in the past, God only save the country. Interestingly, Akram had also courted controversy after he was accused of domestic violence by his partner, Marijana Mihic, in December 2002 while serving as Pakistan's ambassador to the UN. Also, he is viscerally anti-India. That may have worked for him.
Tweeting about the same, Lodhi posted, "Representing Pakistan at the world’s most important multilateral forum was a great privilege," she wrote, adding that she "had planned to move on after UNGA following a successful visit by the PM".
The sudden announcement to replace Lodhi came a day after Prime Minister Imran and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi returned to Pakistan after wrapping up their visit to the United States to attend the 74th session of the UN General Assembly. During his “Mission Kashmir” visit to New York, the prime minister addressed the 193-member UNGA, attended UN summit meetings, met a number of world leaders on the sidelines of the session including US President Donald Trump.