Seen through the prism of Pakistan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit was an improvement, however modest, in the strained relationship between the two countries. Although the visiting US dignitary made no commitment with regard to resumption of US ‘aid’ or Coalition Support Fund (CSF), he did not seek to coerce Pakistan into pursuing Washington’s “do more” mantra either. In other words, the “do more” phrase was conspicuous by its absence in the top US diplomat’s lexicon. But the state of Pakistan-US relationship is still far from satisfactory despite his five-hour stay in Islamabad. The veracity of such an impression could be ascertained from the seemingly credible reports that claimed that even before Pompeo’s plane landed, PM Imran Khan was receiving calls from different quarters to cancel the meeting, enraged about the cancellation of $300 million in the so-called ‘American aid’ announced just days ago. Pompeo, before departing for a visit in India, reportedly had said that he was “hopeful” that the talks with foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, prime minister Imran Khan and army chief Gen. Javed Qamar Bajwa would lead to improved relations. He had also said they had discussed the need for a “peaceful resolution” in Afghanistan, but that there was still “a long way to go” on making any firm agreements, including the release of funds. “We made clear to them and they agreed that it’s time for us to begin to deliver on our joint commitment,” Pompeo was quoted as saying. “There was broad agreement” about the need for “on the ground” actions that will “begin to build confidence and trust.” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference that the discussions with Pompeo, who was accompanied by Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had “set the stage to reset the environment” for bilateral relations and that he had been invited to Washington to follow up later this month. “We understood what they want, and have also presented what Pakistan expects … in a mutually respectful manner,” he reportedly said. Pompeo seemed to have derived his optimism from the fact that Islamabad has been supporting recent stepped-up US efforts to seek reconciliation with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Qureshi’s was a wise move not to mention the military aid cut with a view to maintaining a positive atmosphere at the meetings.

Pakistan has plausible reasons to be mistrustful of the US as the latter has the history of throwing its friends under the bus and reneging on its promises. What it did in the case of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak a few years ago is a strong case in point. Unfortunately, however, the Trump administration has gone a step further as it punishes America’s enemies and friends alike. Penalizing NATO member Turkey through biting US tariffs is also a strong case in point. On a different plain and in a different context, however, the US has been found to be dealing with Pakistan in a highly objectionable manner. It is, for example, trying to turn its non-Nato ally into a scapegoat for the Washington’s military’s failure in Kabul where it has achieved little or nothing insofar as the future of its strategic interests emanating from the American pivot to Asia is concerned. It is quite interesting to note that the Trump administration seems to have finally found in Prime Minister Imran Khan as someone with whom it can find common ground and begin to work on shared problems together. While on his way to Islamabad, Pompeo, therefore, admitted that the Trump administration had “real expectations” of Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan fully recognizes the fact that the US has been showing embarrassment caused by consciousness of its defeat in Afghanistan despite its stay there for over 17 years. That is why it has been showing greater understanding to the US predicament in the landlocked country despite the fact that Washington often refuses to recognize Islamic republic’s unmatched sacrifices in the global war on terrorism. The appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, as a special envoy to Afghanistan may still be viewed with doubt and suspicion by Pakistan. But there is no denying that Khalilzad has better appreciation of the Afghan situation than the rest in the US State Department, including Secretary of State Pompeo. He will, therefore, be required to act with utmost sincerity to settle the simmering Afghan conundrum. But his mission shall remain unaccomplished until and unless he identifies the real impediments to the resolution of the Afghan issue. Asking New Delhi to stop waging a proxy war against Islamabad from the Afghan soil would lead to the removal of one such hurdle to peace in Afghanistan.