It is welcome to note that after a long silence and apparent coldness, the first high-level contact established between Pakistan and the United States on Monday has helped to a great extent in dispelling the ambiguities regarding mutual relations, which were circulating in the minds of observers in many respects.

 At a time when President Donald Trump's turbulent actions have caused a stir around the world, the restoration of contact between the two countries is of extraordinary importance.  The high-level contact is the result of a telephone call made by Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The two leaders had a meaningful discussion on the phone on issues such as bilateral relations, regional security and economic cooperation. As of the current time, all the most important issue is the issue of billions of dollars of American weapons left in Afghanistan at the time of military withdrawal, which are being used for terrorism against Pakistan.  Despite repeated insistence from Pakistan, the Kabul government is neither stopping the attacks of terrorists from its soil nor the use of the latest American weapons. The Pakistani and American foreign ministers agreed to resolve this important issue.

During the discussion, Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan is determined to further strengthen its partnership with the United States, while Marco Rubio called economic cooperation important for the future relations between the two countries.  Ishaq Dar highlighted Pakistan’s efforts in the war on terrorism between 2013 and 2018, which cost it a lot of economic and human lives. The US Secretary of State appreciated these efforts and expressed America’s desire to further enhance mutual cooperation to eliminate terrorism.  According to a spokesperson for the State Department in Islamabad, the US Secretary of State expressed his desire to increase cooperation with Pakistan in areas such as trade and investment, especially in important minerals and investment.  He said that mutual cooperation in this matter will be the hallmark of future relations between the two countries. The foreign ministers agreed to continue close contacts between the two countries and work together to advance common interests.

 It is worth mentioning that Pakistan-US relations have had ups and downs since the beginning. Pakistan sided with the US against the Soviet Union when Pakistan itself was embroiled in a war with India over the Kashmir dispute.  Initially, the US gave the impression of favoring Pakistan but soon leaned towards India. As a result, on the one hand, the usurping Indian occupation of Kashmir continued, and on the other, India succeeded in cutting off the eastern part of Pakistan from it.  On this occasion, American friendship did not help us. The Pakistani nation has always objected to the role of the US in relation to the Muslim Ummah.  Regarding the strategic location in the region, Pakistan is of great importance to the US and it has also taken advantage of its relations with it for its own interests, while especially with regard to India and Afghanistan, Pakistan is facing loss of life, financial and geographical losses. There is still time for the United States to take a clear action plan to give the right of self-determination to the Kashmiri people from India by solving the injustices of the past and to practically solve the reservations of Pakistan in the case of Afghanistan. 

In this situation, the relationship between the two countries can take a meaningful, trusting and positive direction. As a matter of fact,  Pakistan has been making endeavors to reset Pak-US ties. In 2023, the then Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari proceeded well with his endeavors in resetting the Pak-US ties through his sheer statesmanship and sagacious approach as Pakistan's youngest Foreign Minister and one hopes that the continued efforts during the last few years will bear fruits in the long run. The most significant aspect of Pak efforts is focus on expanding cooperation in various sectors other than the one-point Afghan war imbroglio. Due to past efforts of Bilawal, the two long time allies had in recent years resolved to forward their mutual commitment to expand their engagement in trade, energy, environment, health and peace at times when the two states are marking 75 years of their relationship.   And as acknowledged by BBZ in his tweet in the past, there is a greater need to  enhance the people-to-people contacts, business-to-business links and the congressional engagements between the two states as this is the best way to bring the two people together and expanding the ties in accordance with the requirement of the new age marked by the IT revolution.

One would agree analysts who said that people and businessmen should also be made integral part of the Pak-US expanding ties as they are the real stakeholders. In this backdrop, one is really optimistic about the expansion of ties as there exist a lot of common grounds between the two states as the two people really want to come close with each other as they have shared interest in many fields and a lot of common goals to work for together. In fact the grounds on which they agree are far more in number than the things on which they disagree. Pak-origin US citizens are making a good number of the human power in the US. Our doctors are a force to reckon with in the US states. US also appeals to Pakistanis because the former has distinct position among the comity of nations as far as assimilating the people from all over the globe, particularly Muslim world including Pakistan. Another distinct feature of the US is the religious tolerance due to which it is open to accepting people from all around the world.

The number of Muslims living in the US, buying properties, enjoying business adventures, exercising their religion without any fear, getting higher education is a indication that US is safe destination for Muslims and Pakistanis.