WASHINGTON, Dec 30: As part of its efforts to improve bilateral understanding, the US has launched one of its largest ever students exchange programmes with Pakistan, a senior US official said on Thursday.

“To give a chance to Pakistani students to learn more about the US and Americans to learn more about Pakistan and Pakistanis,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alina Romanowski while explaining the motive behind the arrangement.

“The purpose is to build human bridges between our two countries and to encourage face to face communication.”

As many as 100 undergraduate students from Pakistan will spend a semester in US educational institutions this year under the Global Undergraduate Exchange Programme in Pakistan. Although they all have to return home after the semester, they will be encouraged to apply for further studies in the United States.

The US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in coordination with a partner organisation, IREX, will host an arrival orientation for 50 of these students in Washington from Jan 3-6, 2011.

Launched in fall 2010, Global UGRAD-Pakistan provides a substantive exchange experience at a US college or university to a diverse group of 100 emerging student leaders from underrepresented sectors in Pakistan.

Responding to a question from an Indian journalist, Ms Romanowski said the students were not screened to ensure if there were 'wahabis' among them or if they had 'a terrorist mentality', as the journalist had suggested. “We are not screening students for their religious orientation or affiliation.”

She also dismissed another Indian journalist's concern that some of these students may not return. She said that the bureau had exchange programmes with Pakistan before and all those who came had returned home.

The students were selected from small towns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Areas, Fata, Balochistan and Sindh, besides large cities. None of them ever travelled outside Pakistan. Almost half of them are women.