PAK REMOVES MALEEHA LODHI AS ENVOY TO UNITED NATIONS

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday removed its permanent representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodi, within days of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the US and his address at the UN General Assembly.

The Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs announced that it was appointing Munir Akram, a veteran diplomat known to be hawkish on India, as the new envoy by pulling him out of retirement.

The appointment of Akram, who previously served as the country’s ambassador to the UN between 2002 and 2008, indicates that Pakistan is likely to launch a diplomatic offensive on Kashmir and against India. Akram is known to be close to Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, and to identify with a hardline approach towards India. During his previous stint at the UN, in 2003, the US state department had asked Pakistan to withdraw diplomatic immunity to Akram when a woman charged him with misdemeanor-assault. The charges were later withdrawn.

In his latest column in the daily Dawn newspaper, Akram praised Khan’s UNGA speech. “In contrast to Pakistani leaders of the last decade... Imran Khan was warmly acknowledged at every event he attended in New York and sought out by the leaders of UN member states, international organisations, global corporations and the mainstream media,” Akram wrote.

Lodhi, who was Pakistan’s envoy to the UN since February 2015, has not been given a new appointment.

The move came hours after Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry congratulated Lodhi for a “spectacular visit” of Imran Khan to the UN. She thanked him for his remark on Twitter.

Experts said that Lodhi’s removal could be seen as a sign that Pakistan’s planned offensive on Kashmir was not working at the international level.