Daesh militant’s arrest sign of continuing Pakistan-US counterterror cooperation— analysts

KARACHI: The recent arrest of a senior Daesh militant via joint collaboration by Washington and Islamabad is not a “historical shift” in bilateral ties between Washington and Islamabad, but a sign of continuing counterterrorism cooperation between the two states, Pakistani security analysts said on Thursday. 
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday publicly thanked Pakistan for helping in the arrest of Mohammad Sharifullah, a Daesh operative implicated in a deadly 2021 Kabul airport bombing that killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 US troops. 
Pakistan’s prime minister appreciated Trump’s support, confirming that Pakistani security forces arrested the militant in the border region with Afghanistan. On Wednesday, US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz called Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to discuss counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. 
Ties between the US and Pakistan, once close allies following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York, have remained strained over the past few years. American officials have regarded with suspicion Pakistan’s role in the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, despite Islamabad’s denial it did not shelter and aid their fighters. 
“The intelligence cooperation between both the United States and Pakistan never stopped,” Qamar Cheema, an expert on strategic and political affairs, told Arab News. “It was only the Americans who stopped looking at the region from a new lens.”
He said with the new Trump administration in place, Washington once again wanted to “work with Pakistan” on security and counterterrorism, adding that the US was once again interested in Afghanistan and transnational terror outfits. 
“So, there is a mutual dependence obviously and this mutual dependence will continue,” Cheema noted. 
Fizza Batool, an international relations expert, agreed. She cautioned against viewing Sharifullah’s arrest as a “renewed” partnership, describing it instead as a continuation of America’s Afghanistan-centered relationship with Pakistan. 
“The latest development aligns with this pattern, representing a continuation of the strategic partnership rather than a fundamental shift in bilateral relations,” she told Arab News. 
’BOOTS ON THE GROUND’
Dr. Asma Shakir Khawaja, a defense and strategic studies expert, noted Pakistan’s importance as a country with “boots on the ground” close to Afghanistan. She said the recent arrest highlighted how technological advancement alone cannot defeat a transborder menace such as “terrorism.”
“And this arrest indicates upon the fact that any technological advancement cannot undermine the importance of ‘boots on the ground,’” she said. “A combination of both will lead to success.”
A Washington-based analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however, described Trump’s move to express gratitude for Pakistan as a “significant” development.
“Donald Trump does not give compliments easily, but when he feels it from the heart, he expresses his gratitude,” the analyst said. “Therefore, it will positively impact his relations with Pakistan.”
He said strategically Pakistan-US ties were likely to remain “unchanged” as Islamabad was a close ally of Beijing while Washington was allied with both Islamabad and its arch-rival New Delhi. 
“In any case, engagement with Donald Trump has begun, whereas relations of Pakistan with the previous administration could not have developed,” the analyst said.