ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Asif said that the nation had erred when itbecame a party in the 2001 US campaign against Afghanistan, calling it a“huge mistake”.

That decision, more than a decade ago, brought about the terroristcounteraction that seeped into Pakistan, creating a problem way bigger thancould have been anticipated.

Still, the US continues to assert that Pakistan harbours terrorists, askingit to “clamp down on sanctuaries used by the two militant groups to planattacks, collect weapons, and allow fighters to recuperate”.

But Islamabad, on the other hand, reiterates itswoes, stating that the UShas overlooked the Pakistan Army’s sacrifices — both in terms of personneland cost — and doesn’t credit its effort in pushing back Al Qaeda.

Further,military’s spokesperson Maj. Gen. Ghafoor said, “We have doneenough and we cannot do any more,” indicating that Pakistani forces arealready fully engaged in border protection and fighting other extremistgroups.[image: an image] link>

In all, this back-and-forth has complicated the already strained tiesbetween the two nations.

Similar to how an NYT story on Sunday claimed that Trump administrationcannot break away from Pakistan — which could pave way for even betterSino-Pak relations — BMI Research said in its Friday report the US decision“will likely accelerate Pakistan’s geopolitical drift towards China”.

According to the WSJ, a senior official in the Trump administration saidthe American leadership is “angry and dissatisfied” with how Pakistan hasreplied as well as “the continued linkages we see between the Pakistansecurity services and the Haqqani network”.