WASHINGTON: United States (US) State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Wednesday said that Pakistan has taken steps to tackle terrorist groups and is optimistically following the right path. Nauert, while addressing a press conference, stated that Pakistan needed to launch a firm strategy against the Taliban including the Haqqani network. She said that in the previous meeting of US Vice President Mike Pence with Pakistani Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbassi, views were exchanged on US’ South Asia strategy pertaining discussion on the matters of accelerating efforts in countering and eliminating terrorism in the region. Nauert stated that Pakistan, a US ally in the War against Terror, plays a vital role to bring the Afghan Taliban on negotiation table. Prior to the meeting in Washington, Pak-US diplomatic relations have been experiencing cold shoulders, as US President Trump had cut financial assistance to Pakistan alleging it had not eliminated terrorism as yet.