The release of an American national and her Canadian husband from the five-year long captivity of Taliban is an ice-melting moment for the relations between the US and Pakistan which grew tense after President Trump announced his new Afghan policy on August 21.
Pakistan had strongly reacted to Trump’s Afghan policy and the tensions between the two allies in the war against terrorism had reached the point of imminent breakup. But the release of US, Canadian couple in an operation conducted by Pakistani security forces on an actionable intelligence by the US has melted ice of mistrust between the two sides and eased tensions developed between two states over contours of US administration’s new Afghan policy and ‘non-recognition’ of Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
Pakistani security forces, acting on a tip from the US intelligence, got American Caitlan Coleman; her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle; and their three young children last week freed hours after Taliban had transported them into Pakistan across the porous Afghan border.
Immediately after successful operation, President Trump tweeted: “Starting to develop a much better relationship with Pakistan and its leaders. I want to thank them for their cooperation on many fronts.”
Responding to Trump’s tweet, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the latest tweet of the US President Donald Trump regarding Pakistan “is encouraging and the relation between Islamabad and Washington is off to a good start” after affirmative statement from the US President.
Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major General Asif Ghafoor said at a news conference that the incident offered a “good opening in restoring mutual trust”.
“We feel happy that there is a level of trust and confidence, which the US leadership has shown in Pakistan and Pakistan’s security forces … so we take it as a good beginning,” Ghafoor said.
The event actually played an ice-breaker role to put things on the track of normalcy though both sides still have to do a lot to achieve common objective of defeating hydra-headed monster of terror in the region.
Meanwhile, to find permanent politically negotiated solution for restive Afghanistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States have resumed four-country discussions in Oman.
The meeting of Quadrilateral Cooperation Group is taking place after a gap of 16 months. “The objective is to bring the warring factions within Afghanistan to the negotiating table. It is upon all members of QCG to meet and decide on how to move forward in this context,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria has said.
It is high time to bridge gulfs and clear the environment of mistrust between allies fighting against terrorism to effectively knock out the forces of darkness forever and bring real political forces on the table of talks for lasting solution of unending war in Afghanistan.
