The recent statements by US officials indicate that Pakistan-US relations that were affected in the wake of President Trump’s new Afghanistan strategy are gradually returning to normalcy. Vice President Mike Pence held a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday and thanked him for Pakistan’s efforts in recovering the Canadian citizens held captive by the Haqqani Network terrorists in the restive tribal areas. President Trump had earlier praised Pakistan for the same and said this would pave the way for cordial relations between the two countries. The recovery of the Canadian hostages shows that timely intelligence sharing between the two countries can yield positive results in the ongoing battle against militant outfits operating along the Pak-Afghan border territories. The US President, too, must have realised by now that the blame game and hateful rhetoric that he adopted earlier will be counterproductive. Mutual cooperation remains the effective way to deal with outstanding issues. US Vice President’s statement terming the effort by Pakistan to recover Canadian hostages as an ‘important development in the country’s support to the US strategy against terrorism’ in the region means the Americans are satisfied with Pakistan’s current efforts against militancy. It appears that both sides have now decided to adopt a sensible approach. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson also termed the recent engagement between PM Abbasi and US Vice President as productive for ‘mutual reasons’. Let’s hope the two countries stay the course in cooperating and collaborating on shared interests. Here, it is also important to recall an important statement made by Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif about the need for ‘putting our own house in order’. For that remains the only way we can hope this mutually beneficial relationship with major players in the region. Thus, we need to start acting against extremist groups in the country without discriminating among them. The anti-terror action should include groups that may have enjoyed state patronage in the past. The criteria need to be simple: no militia can be allowed to operate in the country. This would not only convince the world about our sincerity in the war on terror but also serve to take further the US-Pak collaboration. An enhancement in cooperation will also eventually allow Pakistan to get its genuine concerns like Indian influence in Washington addressed. * Published in Daily Times, October 20th 2017.