Jalil Afridi
Washington DC: Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, Masood Khan stated that at present there are more than fifty thousand US citizens working in Pakistan. Masood Khan made these remarks at one of the top Washington based think tank, Centre for Stretegic and International Studies (CSIS). The Ambassador did not elaborate in which business sector these fifty thousand American citizens were working at but he did say that only ten thousand students of Pakistan origin were studying at American universities whereas thirty thousand students were studying in China.
When asked how the U.S. can became a better friend of Pakistan, Ambassador Masood started that there is a misperception about Pakistan, which needs to be cleared. He also said that Pakistan needs to be looked as country which is a major transit corridor between between South and Central Asia. Just like Ukraine, Pakistan is also one of the major crops producing country in the world, the ambassador commented.
Daniel Runde, Senior Vice President at CSIS suggested the Ambassador that there should a direct flight between the US & Pakistan. The Ambassador assured that soon Pakistan International Airlines will again be launching this service. Mr Runde also said that the United States should look towards Pakistan not only through the lens of Afghanistan, Iran or Russia.
At one point Masood Khan informed the audience that due to defence related sanctions from America since 2018, Pakistan decided to purchase it’s defence related equipment from China and at present Pakistan buys most of its defence related equipment from China. “Pakistan should be a meeting point for China and the U.S. and not a battleground” the ambassador added.
Ambassador Masood also highlighted the potential of tourism and mines & minerals in Pakistan which can attract billions of dollars in trade and investment.
