Pakistan, Oct. 25 -- Pakistan has spent decades making its case in Washington through the buzzwords of security. This month, its embassy set its sights on another blueprint: 16 technology companies, four American cities and a pitch to some of the world's most demanding corporate buyers. Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh calls the turn "from CT to IT," replacing counterterrorism with information technology as a more durable basis for Pakistan-US relations.

The October 16-23 Pak-US Tech Connect roadshow took Pakistani executives through Silicon Valley, Dallas, Washington and Chicago. Around 20 Pakistani firms exhibited at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 13-15. Another day-long business networking event was hosted in Washington,...