Acknowledgement, recognition, acceptance and appreciation; is the patent formula for success anywhere in the world. If you are fighting a war and you have most advanced technological weapons, but you are not giving recognition and acceptance to your team then it is impossible to win. The same argument can be applied to the Pak-US relations which are passing through a precarious nose dive situation. The start of Pakistani relationship with the Trump administration was full of dust, trust deficit, bitterness and blame games. Trump accused Pakistan of deceiving them and wasting their 33 billion dollars and providing safe havens to agents of chaos. In order to exemplify the situation let me take some exemplary figures from the history of the war on terror. Pakistan is a country which is most affected from impacts of war on terror. According to official resources it ranks at number two amongst countries hit worst by the onslaught of terrorism. According to the official figures provided by the government of Pakistan, Pakistan has suffered a loss of 123 billion dollars and rendered 64,421 sacrifices from 2001 to 2017. Along with human and economic sacrifices, Pakistan has taken many other concrete steps to curb this menace. Pakistan is part of the two major ventures, to curb terrorism still; firstly it is part of a quadrilateral coordination along with China, US and Afghanistan. Moreover it has initiated a bilateral pact with Afghanistan called the Action Plan For Peace And Solidarity (APAPPS). Similarly, Pakistan has launched wide range of offensive military campaigns against violent non-state actors. It includes operation Rah-e-Haq (2007), operation Sher Dil (2008), operation Rah-e-Rast (2009), operation Rah-e-Nijat (2009), operation Koh-e-Sufaid (2011), Operation Zarb-e-Azab (2014), and operation Rad-ul-Fasad (2017). In operation Zarb-e-Azab, army made land and air strikes over the hideouts and sanctuaries of terrorists in North Waziristan. As a result of this operation, Pakistan wiped out all organized groups of terrorists and more than one million people became internally displaced people (IDPs). Furthermore, to sustain the successful results of operation Zarb-e-Azab, the army started operation Raddul Fasad which is still underway. It is targeting base operations all over the country. Pakistani people and army have given many sacrifices in these aforementioned operations. These operations have devastated our economy but, Pakistan did it to fulfill her responsibilities in war against terrorism. America must acknowledge that, if she is the sole super power of the world today, then it became possible because Pakistan assisted in the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan Additionally, Pakistan has started a strong border management and coordination with neighboring countries especially along the Durand Line. This border management will stop unlawful movement of terrorists between two countries. This thing shows the seriousness of Pakistan as terrorism is a regional rather than a specific country’s challenge. On a policy level, Pakistan has taken many blatant steps to end this evil from our country. Pakistan has issued a Pegham-e-Pakistan which is the state narrative about terrorism given by more than 180 religious scholars from all sects, declaring it against the spirit of Islam and humanity. Similarly Pakistan has devised a national action plan, agreed by all parties, to eliminate terrorism form roots. It is a comprehensive document to end this menace from the country. It’s20 points cover a wide ranged agenda including madrasah reforms, registration of afghan refugees, registration of NGOs, elimination of terrorist facilitators and financers. Now let’s take a look at the behavior of the United States. Despite all the efforts and sacrifices of the Pakistani people, the response of Trump’s management is pathetic, discouraging and loathsome. The United States is trying to put the weight of all its failures on Pakistani shoulders, all the while bullying us incessantly. The most recent example is the latest FATF meeting which has included Pakistan in its watch list of countries suspected for terrorist financing and money laundering- after US pressurization. There is a long list of activities through which the United States is trying to undermine Pakistan instead of acknowledgment, recognition and appreciation. Bilateral relations have always been a paradoxical roller coaster intertwined with blame games, accusations and fake charges. In his first policy announced for South Asia, Donald Trump made an incendiary speech, announcing prudent policy and diatribes towards Pakistan in spite of declaring it as a strong ally in the war against terrorism. To peruse her policy United States suspended security assistance and withheld 900 million dollars under the coalition support fund. The story does not ended here after passing one year United States again reduced security assistance from 350 million dollars to 150 million dollars. Additionally the Trump administration had also applied new travel regimens on Pakistani diplomats and put travel restrictions on them. Now trump administration has also suspended military training programs for Pakistani soldiers, as well. What are all these activities showing? These activities are halting the progress and efficacy of Pakistani efforts against war on terror. One thing must be clear that, by stabbing Pakistan with it’s treacherous attitude the US cannot achieve her targets of peace and prosperity in South Asia especially in Afghanistan. America must acknowledge that, if she is the sole super power of the world today, then it became possible because Pakistan assisted in the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan. The relation between Pakistan and the United States has plummeted to historic lows. The only way to abridge this trust deficit is through acknowledgment, recognition and acceptance of Pakistani sufferings, fatalities and sacrifices in the way of war against terrorism. The writer is a freelancer who graduated from UET Lahore Published in Daily Times, August 15th 2018.