Pak-US exchange programmes critical in perception management: Masood

WASHINGTON: Ambassador Masood Khan has said Pak-US educational exchange programmes are critical in perception management and building closer ties between Pakistan and the United States.

Talking to a group of 13 Pakistani female students who are currently visiting the United States under the Sister2Sister Exchange Programme here on Wednesday, he said the youth of Pakistan, with its knowledge, expertise and communication skills, was playing a leading role in projecting the soft power of the country abroad. He congratulated the students for their outstanding performance and enrolment in American universities.

He said this success showed the importance of empowerment of women in science and new technologies. He said people-to-people ties were an important component of Pak-US relations. “Active engagement of the youth, especially the students of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, would transform the Pak-US relations into a futuristic partnership,” he said.

The ambassador said the programme was a great opportunity for Pakistani female students to learn, absorb and practice those values in their professional lives that made the United States a world leader in technology, innovation and invention. “In view of the utility of such programmes in exchange of knowledge, bringing people of the two countries closer to each other and removing misperceptions, we have engaged the US government to broaden scope and frequency of such exchanges”, he said and thanked the US Embassy for creating this space for Pakistani female students in cutting edge disciplines.

The students from educational institutions of higher learning from Karachi to Gilgit-Baltistan interacted freely with the ambassador and shared their perception of the United States and the professional pathways ahead of them.