Context
Just days after Pakistan asked the US to pull out its security personnel, Islamabad now seeks Washington’s assistance in dealing with terrorism and establishing an institute to train counter-terrorism and law enforcement officials. This was discussed during a meeting of the US-Pakistan Joint Working Group for Counterterrorism on Tuesday in Islamabad. A 15-member American delegation headed by Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement William Brownfield met Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, counter-terrorism experts as well as officials of the interior ministry and the police. It is still unclear whether Islamabad will allow any US security personnel on its soil, even if it’s just for training.
The dialogue appears to have been down graded. Previously, the Secretary of State from the US side, and the Ambassador from the Pakistan side usually headed the talks.
