Apart from recovering Pakistan’s lost face in diplomatic corridors, she also had to live up to the stature of redoubtable women like Abida Husain and Maliha Lodhi who had gracefully filled in the same position in previous years.
Having remained Information Minister for President Zardari, one thing Rehman knows is her way around sticky diplomatic situations. As Ambassador, she has cooed the right words at key political junctures and hasn’t taken on any fierce issues in the media, her defence line on Pakistan being dignified and well-stated.
When provoked by US Defence Minister Leon Panetta who had brazenly rejected Pakistan’s sovereignty of air space, her reply was taken as strong but tactful. An earlier apology issued by US Secretary of State on the death of the 24 soldiers and the resultant opening of the supply route to Afghanistan for Nato had also been written down as a diplomatic victory for Rehman who publicly claimed it as an historic episode.