violent extremism and terrorism movements. i will say this personally, i agree with both on that point. he said around the world, only a small number of muslims engage in such activities, so, it is unfair and counterproductive to paint the entire community with the broad brush of extremism. this is not an activity, it is exclusive to any religion or group. he is also honest in acknowledging many countries need to do more to be part of countering the regional and gobble impact of radical extremists. he is happily married to shasta and they have three lovely sons.

one works for the united nations in rome. and the other two are study iin at prestigious universities in the u.s. and i know their grades are high. because their parents inspect their report cards on a regular basis. we are honored to welcome ambassador to the podium in washington, d.c. as a friend of the united states of america. a respected diplomat in the global community. he is here as part of our ambassador series. we are also honored to welcome another distinguished pakistani. dr. mahidi, our discus sant for this evening. dr. alfaz is a nonresident fellow at the brook igs institute where he researches the development of security and political economy in pakistan.

ly tell ambassador jilani and dr. alfaz that you have to want, a great opportunity, an opportunity to share your knowledge and your perspectives with an educated, informed audience that we're pleased to see includes a number of students at universities from across the united states, we're also delighted that cspan is covering this event tonight and we thank brian lam for his public service in making the remarkable television resource available to the united states and the world. so, let us give a warm welcome to ambassador jilani and ask him if he will be kind enough to address us tonight. thank you so much.

>> thank you so much. a wonderful welcome and providing this forum. to me to share my perspective on some of the important issues besides pakistan u.s. relations. i would like to touch on the regional security challenges and also, the kind of initiative that is the government of pakistan has taken to promote education in the countries and the country and also, reforms of the system. it is one of the most relationship frs my country. it is a unique relationship

which has seen many ups and downs. since 1947, we have been in of the u.s., barred off every initiative the united states of america had taken, also globally. i have been, we talk about the ups and downs in this relationship, i have no doubt that the current phase is certainly one of partnership and building convergences. in the past several years, we have had our respective shares of complaints against each other. certainly, we have realized that we need to send the past and look to the future. and with this in mind, we have

opened a new chapter in our relationship between pakistan and the united states of america. some of the important developments which are taking place internally in pakistan and also the kind of regional and global challenges, i would call them and be faced with that fundamentally alter this relationship making it more reroe bust, sustained and strategic. internally, pakistan over the last several years, has gone through a silent revolution. and tony has very ably captured the current mood in pakistan. we certainly are i say this for

strong reasons for saying that. first, democracy, though noisy, it's getting stronger by the day. it's taking strong roots. our media. is ruthlessly independent. we have a vibrant, active, civil society. there is a lot of focus on revival, performance, an end to extremism and terrorism. development, human rights and empowerment of women in the country. there is also a national consensus among extremists and terrorists and because of this national consensus that we have developed, we have been able to

break the back of extremists and terrorists organizations in the last one year. they were killed by the even forces, we have been able to develop a national consensus, against these forces and today, when i speak to you, extremism is on the bridge in some of the other countries and pack, it is declining. we have no doubt that in the next coming months, we will be able to eliminate this phenomena. sorry.

i feel that pakistan is certainly bert positioned to meet multipi challenges. we have fwhot doubt that a strong u.s. partnership will only strengthen our ability to stability in the region. we consider the u.s. as a vital partner. today, we have more convergences than di ver generalsies. i remember that last year, secretary kerry rightly pointed out that the big objectives uniting pakistan and the united states of america are bigger than those which divide us. and i think that again that has come from secretary kerry.

the strategic partnership must be based on mutual interest. of the respective security concerns. realistic expectations and also, a positive narrative about each other. there is also a need to identify areas of common interests. at the bilateral, regional and global level. bilaterally, ladies and gentlemen, since the revival of the strategic process two years ago, we have come a long way. we have established six working groups. working group on education.

counter terrorism and nuclear nonproliferation and strategic stability. and the scorecard is certainly very, very impressive. we are making very good progress in these groups. we have a plan of action. on law enforcement. has resulted in the, in the enhanced capacity of our security forces. in the energy sector, again, we have a wonderful cooperation going on. in the last one year, because of the assistance provided by the

united states of america, we have been able to add about 1400 megawatts of energy in our national grid. we are getting the fullest support from the united states of america on some of the megaenergy projects and mipd you these developments have also enhanced the american ranking in the eyes of the pakistani public because the focus on education, the assistance we are getting on economic development is all these areas which are seeing very, very positively by the people of pakistan. it has been a very important sector of education. education was a key item when our prime minister recently came

to washington, d.c. on the -- of president obama and the joint statement that was issued at the end of that meeting that also referred to education cooperation as one of the most important areas of cooperation. defense cooperation is strong. the kind of challenges that we are faced with are the not only the regionally, but related to daish and other such elements emerging on the scene. again, on the nuclear issue, again, we have developed broad convergences on most of the

issues. again, we have shared interest in peace and stability in south asia. peace in our neighborhood certainly would enhance our domestic security besides economic development. pakistan is located at the cross roads of three important regions. south asia, central asia and the middle east. we can act as a bridge between prosperity and developing region. we are also pursuing, regional interconnectivity projects in our region. china and afghanistan, one big corridor. of about $46 billion.

besides that, we have -- pakistan and india, by blind and thousand, which is a electricity connectivity project from publics passing through to pakistan. ladies and gentlemen, at the global level, again, we have an excellent cooperation on some of the most important issues. here, i would like to say that you may recall a in the early '70s, pakistan played a pivotal role in in building bridges between u.s. and china and we brought about an approachment between these two important power centers.

and we did this on the belief that the china and united states of america would bring about peace and stability and region. we would like to renew that role. in our region, in the middle east, we enjoy very close relationship with the middle east earn countries and being a good friend of not only the united states of america, but also other neighboring countries including iran we can play that. talking about the regional security challenge, i would confine myself to basically two of our neighbors. one is india and the other is pakistan.

india, pakistan relations unfortunately, the history has not been a glorious one. we have attempts to undermine each other and this has been the story of pakistan india relations since 1947, but at the same time, there is also a realization that war is not an option between two nuclear neighbors because all the previous wars we fought were we fought them literally bows and arrows. economic development cannot take place in the region, economic development cannot take place in

pakistan in india without a peaceful environment. there is also a realization that they tried in an environment of tension and hostility. because the such elements the rivalries of two countries, the further excessablety of the situation. i am happy to inform that in pakistan, almost all political parties, if you look at the elections which have taking place in pakistan toward three successive elections, the

political most all the political parties. his party also won the location on a slogan. peace through economic development. or economic development through peace. majority of the people in pakistan avoided for this peaceful environment in the region. prime minister of afghanistan, he was the first leaders in south asia to regulate prime minister when he was electioned at the prime minister of india.

he also par tase pated, took a visit to india to participate. but unfortunately, i would turn the last two years as wasted year, wasted years because we could not assume the dialogue process despite many understandings, the leadership of the two countriecountries. we were disappointed, but we did not relent in our efforts and we continued to make efforts to engage in there. after last week's meeting between prime minister of pakistan and prime minister moie on the lines of the climate summit in paris, a two leaders agreed that the national

security advisers and the foreign secretaries of the two countries, they should meet. they met if bangkok and now, today, when i am talking to you, the indian foreign minister for the heart of asia conference, which is basically meant to show solidarity with afghanistan and we feel these interactions would certainly reduce tension. these directions, the initial interactions, the result in the

revifl of a serious sustained, uninterrupted process between our two countries. we share almost 27 kilometers border with afghanistan. borders in the sense that you would be surprised to learn that every day, 60 to 70,000 afghans, they undertake visits to pakistan to earn their livelihood. they come in the morning, either they go back at night or the next day. or sometime they stay in pakistan for to earn their livelihood and go back after a few days. many of them there also stayed back. for the last almost 35 years.

we are doing this because no other country decides afghanistan has suffered as much as pakistan has. due to the three decades, more than three decades of turmoil in their country and early settlement of these that would be extremely beneficial for our country.

org the operations were initiated in june last year and dwen, it's a matter of pride for me. to announce we have been able to clear the whole of not these elements of every shade and color. has returned to afghanistan. it was a gigantic operation in the sense that it's a key study. we -- a million civilians, the tribal civilians, brought them to safer locations, scattered out operations and then, now, we are trying to reha bil tbilitate one million people back in their homes. we did this not only to bring peace and stability in our own country, but it was meant to

bring about peace and stability in afghanistan. unfortunately, some of these elements, they have crossed over to afghanistan and now, carrying out attacks not only in afghanistan, but also in pakistan. we feel that there are two parts in afghanistan. one is a military victory. over the insurgents. the second is the negotiated piece through a process of national reconciliation. in the last four years, military solution has remained elusive. we had shed a lot of blood. blood and treasure in order to think about that peace and stability, but that has not come about.

accordingly, what we have suggested is that yes, we should try and bring about peace through negotiations in afghanistan or through a process of national reconciliation. be willing to play a role for not only the revival of the interrupted reconciliation process between afghan and taliban, but also, with the but we will be able to bring about other, take other steps in order to make peace in afghanistan.

we have undertaken a lot of projects in afghanistan. the infrastructure development projects, we have built hospitals in afghanistan. we have built schools in afghanistan. we have built the network in afghanistan. and also, we are trying to help afghanistan economically. every year, we offer 6,000 scholarships to students to come and undertake studies in pakistan. and these 6,000 scholarships that we offer, they're in addition to the, in addition to the education facilities, which a are, tomorrow, president would be visiting pakistan because of

the conference being organized in pakistan, prime minister of pakistan, they would jointly inauguraluate the meeting. lastly, education is certainly one of the primary areas of focus. the document that was approved by the cabinet last year aimed at substantial expansion of enrollment of all children as well as improvement in the quality of education. the government to increase the military location. also, increased public

expenditure on higher education from the current 0.2% of gdp to 1.4% of gdp. recently, in 2012, the government, free and compass education making all five to 16-year-old children eligible for free and come pulsery education. launched recently, a comprehensive plan of action has been initiated for upgrading school infrastructure. human resource development teacher, training curriculum improvement and forms.

achieving universal primary education as well as improvement in the adult literacy, especially for women. malala as you know, has become a role model for all young girls in pakistan and we are witnessing increased enroll m by young girls even from the remote areas of pakistan including in the tribal areas who are coming forward to get education. i was surprised to learn recently when i went to pakistan, that in the medical institutions in pakistan, the girl students, they outnumber the boys. so, this is a recent phenomenon that we're witnessing. in our banking industry, again, it was something that was most of the banks are employing more women than men, so there is a lot of competition going on.

degrees in order to join the banking sector. which were the exclusive demand of men again, we see about 30 to 40% of women getting admission in those institutions. we have the largest of full bright scholars. the scholarships. every year, 200 boys and girls come to the united states of america to undertake studies here. and the tribal areas of pakistan

and they are doing extremely well. these young students who come here for education and go back and go to the economic development of the country. we are working on the development of pakistan u.s. knowledge corridor and as part of this knowledge corridor, this would involve students from both countries and exchange of academics from both the coun countries. so, ladies and gentlemen, i think i have certainly crossed my, the time limit given to me. i will stop here. i will be happy to respond to any questions you may have. thank you so much.

>> so, is the mike on? >> great. >> i will start off with a couple of question, then open it up to audience q and a. thanks for a great, great speech. since you ended on the topic of education, i thought we would start with a question on education. so, you mentioned successes and the focus on education. currently. over the year, we've seen a lot of improvements in access to education and enrollment increases certainly and obviously, a task that is still continuing. but if you could comment a little bit more on curriculum reform and learning of quality of education because donors like the u.s. as well as other donors across the world, tend to focus

a lot on these quantity of education independeicatoindicat could learn more about what improvements have been made, that would be a good place to start. >> couple of important indicators. for instance, i'm sure that you have come from pakistan and i suppose that you also came from the same education system that i came from. my children came from. my interaction with the units, that convinces me that many of the student who is come to the united states of america, the early education system in pakistan, they do extremely well. they compete with their -- a

deflection of the good quality education that i was talking about. certainly, there are areas which needs improvement because in the division of afghanistan, in order to defeat soviet union, you know that a lot of these came up. what the government is trying to do is introduce a form the government has already formed a committee to look into the curriculum to be part with t the -- in the m is is, they could be removed. as i said, more and more of the girl students, you know, the enrollment has increased.

the more and more women are getting education in the professional constitutions. one is really hopeful that the future looks very, very bright for these pakistani boys and girls. most of these pakistani students, both boys and girls would come to the united states of america or go to other european countries or to australia for higher education. all going back the pakistan, which is again a very positive trend at the end of this. >> if i could sort of, in terms of education in pakistan, pakistan also has a public education system and a private education system and a very

elite private education system and some of the people we see who do really well in the u.s. are products of that sort of elite private education system. are there efforts to bring that public education system to par with the more elite private education system or to improve the quality so people can compete in a global environment from that public education system? >> i would say that it is a, certainly, the effort is being made. in order to bridge the gap between private education, schooling education and public school. talked about it and being many -- products of the schools and public schools, provided

very good quality education. the private school there is have become sort of -- the quality of sometimes education is not as good as is provided private schools, but certainly, an effort is being made by the government to address this issue and they're addressing this issue by improving the school, providing good pha a silties in the good to provide better training for the teachers. the idea to develop the kind of infrastructure that would make the public schools equally attractive for a young student to get admission. >> so, moving to security

issues. you mentioned some of the successes of the military campaign. and certainly, we can see it with the numbers, terrorist attacks have gone down. fatalities have gone down. i've been in pakistan twice this year and it's quite palpable, the fact that the internal security situation has improved. a two-part question relating to that. the first is how it has impacted bilateral relations with the u.s. and two, what is being done in terms of the longer term national action plan in terms of sort of a counternarrative to terrorist groups, so it doesn't arise again. i remember that a couple of years ago, when every direction

we had with the u.s., the areas of pakistan, or the activities of various terrorist organizations. well, i think the as during my talk, i talked, i mentioned about the development of this national consensus in the country. these forces, so, in line with the national consensus, taking action against all groups. and i think with that, it has certainly helped in developing a much better understanding between us and the united states of america. and here, i would also like to mention that when we talk about the military operations.

many other institutions including the common people. we got decision guided ammunition, the homters and we also got the f16s, which were certainly a game changer because we were talking about an area which was the most treacherous of the areas and without in order to clean up the area. >> thank you. those are good -- we will now move to audience q and a, if you could line up over there. we'll go first come, first serve and if you could keep your questions brief and to the point

and also, have it be one question instead of sort of a set of questions. and ask a question. no statements by themselves. >> what's the motivation behind doubling pakistan's military budget. i thought you said something about going from 2% to 4%. >> no, that's for education. >> oh. totally different. sorry. >> we first that the two person of the gdp we were spending for the last many, many years, that was certainly insufficient to promote education and to provide

quality education to a remote areas of pakistan, so, it is with that that the government has decided to double the education for education from 2% to 4%. by 2018. >> what is happening as far as the military budget is concerned? >> you see, the point is at the moment, other military budget, you can make it that we have a very serious situation to address, not only on our eastern border, but also western border. certainly required some kind of a military expenditure. you can compare the situation that for instance, other budget military defense budget is less than the increase that was introduced by india in their, by

you know, last year. >> thank you for coming and speaking with us. my question -- >> on the next "washington journal," we'll talk to rob whitman about national security threats and the fight against isis in iraq and syria. then representative josepher crowley on newly proposed gun control legislation and homeland securitiment and elizabeth grossman discuss her article in the magazine, in these times. "washington journal" is live with your phone calls, facebook

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