Sunday Times chief foreign correspondent Christina Lamb published a piece on May 17, 2026 mocking Pakistan’s role during the US-Iran crisis, describing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as “ecstatic” over Islamabad’s diplomatic engagement. The article drew immediate criticism, not only for its dismissive framing but for a more serious question circulating in Pakistani media and government circles: under what visa was this reporting conducted?
A conference visa grant notice now in circulation shows a conference sub-category, single-entry stay and seven-day duration. Pakistan maintains a clearly defined and separate accreditation route for foreign journalists. Pakistani authorities have previously considered journalistic activities conducted outside proper visa parameters a serious matter, as established when Lamb was deported from Pakistan in November 2001. If political reporting was conducted under a conference visa, The Times and Lamb owe a direct explanation of whether proper accreditation procedures were followed. Every foreign journalist who respects Pakistan’s rules deserves to know those rules apply equally to senior Western correspondents.
The editorial concerns surrounding the article are equally serious. Pakistan’s engagement during the US-Iran crisis reflected a diplomatic reality very few states can sustain, simultaneous working relations with both Washington and Tehran. Pakistan served as a key broker in talks to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, despite not recognising Israel and having a historically complicated relationship with the Trump administration. Mocking that role follows a pattern analysts have long identified in Lamb’s Pakistan coverage: when Pakistan faces terrorism, it is questioned; when Pakistan fights terrorism, it is doubted; when Pakistan attempts diplomacy, it is mocked.
Since 2001, more than 50,000 people have been killed in Pakistan as a result of the war on terror, including approximately 8,000 security personnel killed in military operations alone. That sacrifice has received consistently thin treatment in Lamb’s three decades of Pakistan reporting, with the country framed almost exclusively through instability and suspicion. Journalism loses credibility when analysis becomes indistinguishable from ideological fixation. That standard applies to everyone, including award-winning foreign correspondents.
Read More: CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper Acknowledges Pakistan as a Reliable Counterterrorism Partner.
