The gathering pace of the Afghan Peace talks portrays a ray of hope for all those who earnestly desire to see peace return to war ravaged Afghanistan and the exit of the foreign troops from that country after long 18 years. The diplomatic initiative taken by the Kremlin some months ago followed by a gathering of Afghan leaders in Pakistan in the last week of June have been of paramount importance to nudge the Afghan factions towards the conclusion of the peace deal. The Taliban, on both occasions, refused to sit with any representative of the Kabul regime which they consider a US puppet without power for any significant decision making. The Peace Conference of the Afghan leaders in Pakistan was arranged in the cool atmosphere of Burban – a resort just few miles away from Islamabad – by two think tanks, Lahore Center for Peace and Research, and the South Asian Strategic Stability, with the backing of the Government of Pakistan. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Foreign Minister opened the Conference. The timing of the conference that was held just a few days before the official visit of President Ashraf Ghani to Islamabad imparted an added importance to the deliberations held among the Afghan leaders. The deliberations at least gave an insight how the Afghan political leaders were viewing the peace talks. The current seventh round of peace talks between the US and Taliban being held in Doha seem to be very crucial for breakthrough on the sticking issues and return of normalcy to Afghanistan if particularly viewed from the perspective of President Donald Trump’s recent pronouncements reflecting his disgust with the prolonged Afghan peace talks, his impatience to get out of the messy situation and the drawdown of their troops from 16000 to 9000.The main stumbling blocks which have thus far impeded the successful conclusion of a peace deal are yet to be thrashed out. Mind it gentlemen, superpowers never accept failure or defeat but shift the responsibility to scapegoats. Better be frank rather than a scapegoat The talks have not gone further on the important issues of cessation of hostility; the ceasefire; the schedule of the withdrawal of the foreign troops; the strength of the residual US forces, if any, in Afghanistan after the peace deal, the power sharing. The Taliban, though ready to talk to any Afghan leader as a citizen of Afghanistan, have stubbornly refused to sit with the representatives of the Ashraf Ghani regime. This constitutes the greatest stumbling block to the resolution of the issue of ceasefire and power sharing. A ceasefire would allow the holding of the Presidential elections in Afghanistan in an orderly manner that have been twice postponed and rescheduled in September this year. The Ashraf Ghani regime has already completed its mandated tenure. Any further delay in the elections will render the regime illegitimate causing a great embarrassment to the US leadership. It seems unlikely to conclude a peace deal or secure an agreement from the wily Taliban so swiftly for ceasefire to hold the elections in September. This weighs heavily on the minds of the US leadership. President Ashraf Ghani, having frothed brimstone against Pakistan throughout his tenure, has come round to realizing the crucial role of Pakistan – a vital stakeholder in the peace and normalcy in Afghanistan – in helping peace talks move to a successful conclusion. There seems a similar realization in the Washington DC. The recent signals coming from the White House and senior American officials including Mike Pompeo, Alice G. Wells and Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzade adequately portray a change of heart in the US leadership to engage Pakistan more robustly for recalibrating bilateral relations. This owes a great deal to the American need for Pakistan’s cooperation in the successful conclusion of Afghan peace talks. The International Monetary Fund and other International Financial Institutions’ soft pedalling towards Pakistan to help it overcome its economic difficulties; the declaration of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) a terrorist entity; the formal invite to Prime Minister Imran by President Donald Trump for an official visit to Washington from July 22 are taken by analysts as an evidence of the US decision to recalibrate its bilateral relations with Pakistan. What the US exactly wants Pakistan to do for putting bilateral relations on an even keel. This is where the Pakistani leadership has to be careful and view the US expectations from the prism of our own national interests. They have to shun our traditional over enthusiasm to please the US leadership. It is important to have good relations with US but not at the cost of our vital national interests. We should keep in mind that the US leadership is desperate to get out of Afghanistan in an orderly fashion. They do not want to have an embarrassing situation as in Saigon where they had to evacuate their troops from the roof top of their fortified Embassy. Their fear stems from the uptick in the hostility with Iran. Iran has reportedly withdrawn some 30,000 trained Shia militants from Syria and deployed them in the districts along its 600-mile long border with Afghanistan under the overall command of the ferocious General Qassim Sulaimani of the Iraqi and Syrian fame. This militia could be a lethal weapon to dash the US hopes for an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan. Over the years, Iran has also strengthened cooperation with Taliban. Backing the Taliban, Iran can play havoc with the US facilities in Afghanistan. At any cost, we have to be neutral in the US-Iran hostility. In a similar way, we should give as much undertakings in nudging the Taliban towards a peace deal as we could deliver, shunning all our delusions regarding our influence on the militia. Taliban are conducting talks from a strong position and would not accept any proposal they perceive harmful to their position. Promises given to the US leadership should be commensurate to our capacity to deliver. Mind it gentlemen, superpowers never accept failure or defeat but shift the responsibility to scapegoats. Better be frank rather than a scapegoat. The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books