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Mishal Husain:
What does the United States want to get out of the relationship?
Christina Rocca:
What we need out of this relationship is a better relationship with the government and the people of Pakistan. So we want to have a closer relationship with the people of Pakistan. We look for regional stability. We look for assistance on the security issues. We have a number of economic areas where we could be moving forward as well. And obviously we want to be able to help them in the area of education and help them move towards that vision that I mentioned earlier.
Mishal Husain:
How do those goals compare to the fact that there's an increasingly anti-American sentiment being heard in Pakistan?
Christina Rocca:
Well, as I said, the fact is that we clearly need to be doing a better job of getting out our message. The United States has a long history and is proud of the fact that it is such a tolerant country that tolerates all religions and is certainly in no way anti-Islam, on the contrary. And this is the message that we need to get out to those elements in Pakistan who believe the contrary.
Mishal Husain:
Give me your thoughts on some of the things we saw in the film about the reality of how life in the northwest frontier province of Pakistan has changed. The reality of what Sharia law means, and what you think of that.
Christina Rocca:
Well, this is a part of the country that I've traveled to and it is clearly more traditional than the rest of the country. There's no doubt about it. But I think there's also a need in that part of the country, as there is throughout Pakistan, for a better education system. This is something that's been recognized by the government of Pakistan, and certainly something we have committed a fair amount of dollars to. Part of this multi-year package is going to also further the education system in Pakistan. One of the keys to moving the country in the right direction, we believe, is education.
Mishal Husain:
But how do you actually do that? Do you give money for new schools, or do you try and change the curriculum?
Christina Rocca:
We do this in a number of ways. We work with a number of NGOs that work directly in the areas involved. We also work directly with the government and with the education minister who has an entire project to help revitalize the school system, and to provide children with an opportunity and an alternative to the madrassah system.
Mishal Husain:
It's a very difficult thing to do, isn't it? Because the last thing you want to be seen to be doing is imposing some kind of American value educational system on this part of the world.
Christina Rocca:
That's not at all what we're trying to do. On the contrary. What we'd like to do is present more opportunities to children and to poor people to have something when they get out of school. If you broaden the curriculum, their job opportunities will expand exponentially, obviously. There is a lack of education -- of good and proper education -- in Pakistan as a whole. This is something that the government of Pakistan is working to try to change. And we want to help them to do that. Because the key to moving and becoming a prosperous nation really is education.
Mishal Husain:
But 50 percent of the package that you just gave to Pakistan is for the military.
Christina Rocca:
Fifty percent. But that still leaves $1.5 billion over the next five years. Not to mention the amount that we've already been providing and that we'll continue to provide in the areas of education and other development assistance like health and democratization. This is an area which will directly affect, we hope, the average Pakistani, including in those areas you've been showing on your film.
Mishal Husain:
Tell me about your experience of traveling to Pakistan. You've been to Pakistan numerous times. How do you find it when you go there?
Christina Rocca:
Pakistan is a country that's filled with vitality. There are people with great ideas and with hope for the future. This is something that really buoys you up when you talk to them. It has a boisterous democratic and boisterous political dynamic. It's a country with enormous potential. It's something that you can feel when you're there, in all parts of the country.
Mishal Husain:
Did you sense anti-Americanism?
Christina Rocca:
Absolutely. But they're not shy about telling you.
Mishal Husain:
That's not necessarily a good thing.
Christina Rocca:
That's part of the dialogue. You can enter a dialogue. The minds weren't all closed, by any means.
Mishal Husain:
It's also a country of tremendous faith. It strikes me as being a very difficult thing for the United States to try and combat the rise of extremist Islam. Because this is never going to be a secular nation.
Christina Rocca:
No one is looking for it to become a secular nation. It's an Islamic republic, and the United States is a country that has many faithful of many different religions. What we would like to see is tolerance. What we'd like to see expanded is tolerance throughout the country, so that no one is imposing any particular brand of religion on anyone else.
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca
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