After getting a huge boost from the charged rally of diaspora at the Capital One Arena in Washington on Sunday, Prime Minister Imran Khan went to the White House in an upbeat mood for an official meeting with US President Donald Trump. Pakistan got out of the meeting what it was expecting: a thaw in relations between the two strategic partners. The US president minced no words in announcing the beginning of a new chapter in relations between the two countries. In televised remarks from inside the Oval Office, President Trump said, “Pakistan is helping us a lot now on Afghanistan … relations with the country are much better now than before.” Since President Trump took over a few years ago, he has been showing his visible tilt towards India. His not-so-favourable statements, in the shape of tweets, regarding Pakistan have hit the headlines a couple of times. Clearing the bad air, Trump said, “We were paying $1.3 billion as aid for many years but the problem was that Pakistan – it was before you [PM Imran] – was not doing anything for us. They were really, I think, subversive. To be honest, we have a better relationship with Pakistan right now than we did when we were paying that money.” Trump’s talks often need a special level of comprehension. It is, however, not difficult to ascertain from his talk that he has developed a better working chemistry with Imran Khan. In a question by a journalist, Trump said he is ready to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the 70-year-old Kashmir dispute if both India and Pakistan ask him for it. He said Indian Prime Minister Modi had also asked him for mediation, which India instantly rejected. India must know that the whole world wants peace in the region, and time to time, they express their willingness to work as mediators to resolve the outstanding disputes between the two nuclear states. The Pakistani delegates have yet to hear the US establishment’s favourite phrase to Pakistan: ‘do more’. This time, Pakistan can say with confidence that it has done more than its share and has suffered beyond one’s imagination in the war on terror. Pakistan has facilitated US and Taliban talks in Doha where either side is discussing American troops’ pullout from Afghanistan. Efforts have also been acknowledged by President Trump, who said Pakistan is going to help us out to extricate ourselves from Afghanistan. *