so, please, join me in welcoming ambassador haqqani and karen deyoung. [applause] >> thank you very much. patricia, for that kind introduction. of course, when i was asked to come here, i thought, you know, nobody's paying any attention to pakistan these days. [laughter] nothing gets said about pakistan in the media, so why not use this forum to be able to communicate and, of course, find an excuse to be on c-span. [laughter] and so, therefore, here i am. it's a pleasure to see secretary mchale in the audience, judith mchale and i have worked together in the last sort of, you know, since her appointment as undersecretary, and public diplomacy, of course, is one of the many challenges we have dealt with at our end. so it's a pleasure seeing you here, and thank you for all the help and cooperation you offered here. of the distinguished audience, many of whom i know personally for quite some time which just tells you how old i am, but i would also like to recognize my very able deputy, the embassy of pakistan is very lucky to have a woman as the second in c

our moderator karen and the young is a -- karen deyoung has served in many positions that "the post," in washington and has covered afghanistan and pakistan extensively. after the embassadors opening remarks, he and karen will have a conversation before opening it up to q&a with the audience. so please join me in welcoming ambassador haqqani and karen and the young -- and karen the eyoung.en d >> thank you very much for that kind introduction. when i was asked to come here, i thought that nobody was paying to pakistan these days. [laughter] nothing had been said about pakistan and the media. one that uses to communicate and find an excuse to be on c-span? -- why not use this to committee and find an excuse to be on c- span? [laughter] judith mikheil and i have worked together since her appointment as secretary. it is a pleasure seeing you here. thank you for the help and cooperation that you offered here. and to the distillers london, many with some of -- and to the distinguished audience, many of which i know very well. the embassy of pakistan is very lucky to have a woman as the sec