Morning meeting with CIA. Their agenda was to impress upon us the parliamentarians the need for oversight of our intelligence agencies by parliament- this is not the first time we have heard this-its  constant gentle preach from the americans in islamabad- ofcourse  they have some laws that guide this oversight- frankly i have been defending my intelligence agencies in face of foreign criticism since the days senator kerry decided to say a few words about them being supportive of talibans- anyway this morning i continued being honest- firstly i wanted to see these laws so i have called for them.

secondly i put the question to the cia whether they were doing anything about changing the perception that said in pakistan that they the americans were supporting the talibans destabilize pak thru their links with baitullah- ofcourse there was no answer- the reason i was so blunt was bec this perception is rampant in pak and if we r here for dialoguing we must discuss ground perceptions- secondly i asked about where dr afia was- ofcourse i got no answer to that one either- 

in a relationship one must be honest about uncomfortable issues rather than pretend all is good- when the people are so anti usa- then issues need ironing out- i believe in resolution not pushing issues under carpet- ofcourse my new pakistani american friends dont understand how pakistanis hate americans and yet line up for visas and are dying for their aid too- good question- frankly i wish my country was not asking for aid- its an uncomfortable position to be in as a legislator- how can we b sovereign if we have a begging bowl-

anyway next was a meeting with ambassador holbrooke’s team- he couldnt join us bec he was getting ready for a flight to pakistan- i was able to give the points given in post below- it would have been better had we met him direct- well…will see him at some other point- this trip is the first of many so its not a crisis if we cant meet all 500 congressmen/women! one day they will meet pakistan’s young leadership… 

next was a meeting with national counter terrorism centre- high powered presentation showing how the best of minds technologies and synergies had produced a better safer environment- my only comment was that if we all solved kashmir and palestine or made some attempt to, this big high powered organization wld not be so busy… i am not being cynical- think about resources spent on public diplomacy vs on such organizations- what a sharp contrast- common sense to invest more into public diplomacy to have a real long term solution- dont u think- anyway i have decided if the americans take time to come forward on kashmir forward movement pak’s younger leadership will move forward and dialogue with indian younger leadership ourselves- reaching out- taking initiative- yes i am willing to talk to indians!!!! ok so i have decided that we need to resolve and for that i cant be close minded! dont laugh! i am being serious- i owe it to my electorate -

meeting at USAID HQ- i discussed all the development related issues- future plans of usaid in pak- clean drinking initiative- high overheads- need for pakistani americans to be given chance to come forward on ppp projects- need for a proper need analysis since pak needs were deep! sounds familiar? anyway i started meeting discussing ROZ initiative- lots of work needed on that too.

next we had a meeting wth a senator who we cldnt meet bec she was called by the president- 

i had an aljazeera interview- we discussed afpak-kashmir- isi – ofcourse i defended state! also i gave ref to prez obama reaching to muslim world thru historic speech and need for kashmir to be part of package- i am not obsessed wth kashmir- i just want some resolution so we can get on with development- i will resolve honorably and not compromise and sell out the blood of kashmiris-

reception at pak embassy- met lots of great young pakistanis and others too- got surrounded by pak media who was looking for me being my usual critical self about govt- i told them to call me after 7th when i would land in pak- i wld not criticize govt on foreign soil- they were v persistent-and i cld see their frustration- when they got no headlines they reached to their next favourite- is prez musharraf coming back into politics- my no was enough headline – the twisted and made some jazzy headline! i must admit i am bit tired of this kind of questioning- whats the point? does it get pak to develop faster- we need to get mature wth our politics and agenda- we need to discuss real issues- i am an aggressive oppo mna but constructive- i dont wish to be dragged into issues which dont serve pak-

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