Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting with US President Donald Trump has always brought good headlines for the Pakistani audience. Trump said the United States has never been as close to Pakistan as it is right now and Kashmir will be discussed with ‘friend’ Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit. An official press release by US officials, quoting Trump, reads: “We are getting along very well. I would say, we have never been closer.” Though Afghanistan is going to dominate the formal meeting between the two leaders, mention of the Kashmir issue by the US president is a success of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts. Trump said he would speak to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the Kashmir issue, adding that “We’re talking about Kashmir […] if we can help, we certainly will be helping. We’ve been watching that and following it very, very closely.” This is the third meeting between the two leaders. Trump’s words for Pakistan suggest the beginning of a new era, especially after the landmark US-China trade deal. Earlier, the China-US trade deadlock not only choked economic growth the world over, it also damaged the prospects of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). China is Pakistan’s time-tested friend, and CPEC is being heralded as a game changer. But it is astonishing to see that senior US diplomat Alice Wells, who is in Pakistan, has cast aspersions on CPEC, putting aside all diplomatic norms, urging Islamabad to rethink its involvement with it. While her concerns about the lack of transparency are legitimate, it is time the government came up with open policies on all economic contracts. *