ISLAMABAD – Pakistan US bilateral ties have started to comeback on trackwhen Washington sent a senior Trump aide to Islamabad for talks withPakistani leaders. And on Thursday, official sources in Washington toldDawn that Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua will visit Washington next weekfor a series of meetings with senior American officials.

In an interview to VOA radio in Kabul on Friday, US State Department’sActing Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells said theUS was not thinking of cutting ties with Pakistan. She also assuredIslamabad that the US considered Pakistan essential to resolving the Afghanimbroglio.

Asked if Washington could sever its relations with Pakistan, Ms Well said:“On the contrary, we are backing Pakistan against all militant groups.”

In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told reporters that Pakistan“wholeheartedly supports Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s latest offer ofpeace talks to the Taliban because “it’s a good move and a healthy movetowards restoring peace in Afghanistan”.

Earlier, a top US general also dispelled the impression that the UnitedStates and Pakistan were on a collision course. “We have preserved thevaluable military-to-military relationship with Pakistan” while working toincrease transparency and communication with military leaders, Gen JosephVotel, head of the US Central Command told a congressional panel inWashington this week.

In Washington, diplomatic observers are describing Foreign SecretaryJanjua’s March 6-8 visit to Washington as a positive development, notingthat it follows a surprise trip to Islamabad last week by a senior Trumpofficial, Lisa Curtis, who spoke of the need to build a new relationshipwith Pakistan after her talks with senior Pakistani officials.

Official sources told Dawn that Secretary Janjua is also slated to visitNepal next week with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi but may have toskip that trip for important bilateral talks in Washington, which mayinclude another meeting with Ms Curtis, the US National Security Council’ssenior director for South and Central Asia.