Day After Pak Foreign Minister's Visit, Top US Expert Says Ties In 'Serious Trouble'

The remarks came a day after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif concluded his three-day official visit to Washington during which he met Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor HR McMaster.

Washington: The US-Pakistan relationship is in "serious trouble" and the mistrust between the two countries runs deep, an expert on the bilateral ties at a top American think-tank has said, a day after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif concluded his three-day visit to Washington.

Moeed Yusuf, a senior expert on Pakistan at the United States Institute of Peace, a top American think-tank funded by the US Congress said that the default position in Islamabad and Washington was very sceptical of other's intentions. "The sense that I have is that this relationship is in serious trouble," Mr Yusuf told news agency PTI.

His remarks came a day after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif concluded his three-day official visit to Washington during which he met Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Advisor HR McMaster.

"The foreign minister himself said something to that effect," Mr Yusuf said, pointing to the remarks made by Mr Asif at an event after his meetings with Mr Tillerson and Mr McMaster.

"I won't be extravagant. Meeting with the Secretary of State went very well. Meeting with McMaster, I will be a bit cautious about, but it was good. It wasn't bad. I think we need to pursue this course of contact in discussions and exchange of views. I think we need to pursue it more rigorously," Mr Asif said when asked what message he was taking back for Islamabad.

A well known expert on US-Pakistan relations, Mr Yusuf said the real issue here was that of mistrust. "The mistrust is so deep and that is going to be very difficult for both sides to work a way out in which they would essentially rely on each other, trusting that they would be sincere to whatever is being done. On both sides the default position is one that is very sceptical of the intentions on the other side," he said.

Mr Yusuf said that no one should expect "a major breakthrough" anytime soon.

"At best this relationship is going to muddle through and limp along till both sides are able to find a way to work together or till there is a sense that both sides are willing to give and take in a way that the other feels that there is a real incentive to do that," he said.