the world of food and agriculture. and he's -- in addition to that -- been a vice chancellor at the university that started up and really took off under his leadership, the beacon house national university, in which he was the vice chancellor. prior to that, he was pakistan's foreign minister from august '98 to october '99 and was elect today the pakistan senate in -- and was elected to pakistan senate in 1995 and remained there until 1999. the minister is here for conversations for the u.s. leadership for the strategic dialogue and we're pleased you can take time out for your important assignments here and come and speak to the council about u.s. pakistan and the region. thank you. >> well, thank you very much. it's always a pleasure to get experience to come to washington and also to the consulate and meet such a distinguished group of friends and observers in the pakistan u.s. relations. i think since most of you are familiar, i'll gloss over them very briefly. i think historically pakistan and u.s. have been virtually on the same page starting with the first foreign assistance act of 1964 and whether it was initially the core years and -- and then against terrorism and in