US to discuss Afghan strategy with Pakistan Monday

Washington: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis will land in Pakistan on Monday and is expected to discuss “one more time” Washington’s strategy for Afghanistan.
Mattis during the one-day trip would meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa, according to a defence department statement.
Mattis has said the US would try “one more time” to work with Pakistan in Afghanistan before President Donald Trump turns to options to address Islamabad’s alleged support for militant groups.
“We need to try one more time to make this strategy work with them, by, with and through the Pakistanis, and if our best efforts fail, the president is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary,” Mattis said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing in October.
Asked by a lawmaker whether revoking Pakistan’s major non-NATO ally status was one of the options being considered to deal with Islamabad, Mattis had said: “I am sure it will be.”
The US believes that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence has ties with the militant groups and that
groups like Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on Afghanistan.
In August, Trump had outlined a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan, asking Pakistan not to harbour “agents of chaos.”