Pakistan's ties with the US on the mend

Both the United States and Pakistan had cleared the way for a good meeting between their leaders, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Imran Khan. The US designated a separatist outfit launching attacks in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province as terrorist. Islamabad welcomed the move and filed 23 terrorism and terror financing charges against three US-designated terror groups and arrested the head of one of these groups to win Trump's tweet-praise. Yet the bonhomie Trump and Khan achieved at their White House meeting was more geared towards Afghanistan than their own countries.
"There is tremendous potential between our country and Pakistan," Trump told reporters at the Oval Office as he flattered Khan. "I think Pakistan is going to help us out to extricate ourselves [from Afghanistan]." The US believes Pakistan could push the Taleban into a permanent cease-fire in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister Khan also tried to move beyond the diplomatic clashes through tweets and other media with Trump when he repeatedly praised the US president for his leadership. "He has now forced people to end the war, to have a settlement," Khan said of him. "Our objective is same as the US right now, to find a peaceful solution as quickly as possible in Afghanistan," Khan told the crowd of supportive workers who had gathered at Islamabad airport to welcome him on his return from the US. "The whole country is behind me, the Pakistani army and all security forces are behind me," said Khan who was accompanied by Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed during the talks at the White House. Khan said he would sit down with the Taleban and persuade them to talk to the Afghans, something they have resisted so far.
Only a day after Khan landed in Islamabad, the US Department of State Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said it was now time for Pakistan to build on the commitments made. It indicates how fast the US wants Pakistan to act. The US is negotiating for a deal by September 1 that would see international forces pull out of Afghanistan in return for security guarantees by Taleban. The US sees an intra-Afghan dialogue and a ceasefire as essential towards firming up a withdrawal, which will be crucial in Trump's reelection bid next year. The Afghan Taleban have expressed willingness to travel to Pakistan and meet Prime Minister Khan if he invited them for negotiations to end the 18-year-old conflict in Afghanistan, according to the BBC. A previous such meeting scheduled to be held in Islamabad was cancelled after Afghanistan government's objection.
The US-Pakistan relations have been vital for both countries, but difficult and drifting in recent years. Pakistan has lost about 70,000 security forces and civilians and $100 billion in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan had to deploy nearly 200,000 troops to its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. Today, the former tribal areas are clear of any organised presence of militants and are a part of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the state's laws and writ are implemented. However, the US has always opted for a "do-more" mantra. The US has switched to a more conciliatory tack now for withdrawing its remaining 14,000 troops from Afghanistan.
Khan said the main objective of his visit was to improve Pakistan's standing in the eyes of the US to enable deeper cooperation as equal partners. Pakistan is 58th largest supplier of goods for the US. America imported goods worth $3.7 billion in 2018 from Pakistan, up 3.9 per cent from 2017. The top import categories in 2018 were miscellaneous textile articles, knit apparel, woven apparel, leather products, and cotton. US imports of agricultural products from Pakistan totalled $126 million in 2018. US foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan stock markets stood at $518 million in 2017. Pakistan's FDI in the US equity market was $224 million in 2017.
Besides finding a lasting solution to the Afghan conflict and so, rectifying the strains in their relations, the two countries need to increase their trade and investment, and build a mutually beneficial economic partnership.
Waqar Mustafa is a multimedia journalist and commentator based in Lahore, Pakistan