NEW DELHI, Aug 7 (INP) With VK Singh meeting US secretary of state Rex Tillerson in Manila on the sidelines of the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting, it caps a week of renewed engagement between India and the US. It comes at a time when the Trump administration is working on a South Asia policy to deal with one of the longest and most difficult wars in Afghanistan. Senior ranking officials from State, Pentagon and National Security Council were in India this week to participate in a 1.5 track dialogue organised by the MEA and think tank Ananta Centre. Alice Wells, acting assistant secretary for south Asia, Lisa Curtis, senior director in NSC and Cara Abercrombie from the Pentagon met foreign secretary Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval among others, Times of India reported. The fact that India is watching the Trump administration's evolving South Asia/Af-Pak policy with interest was clear from foreign minister Sushma Swaraj's statement at the Indo-US forum this week. She said, "We deeply appreciate the sacrifices made by the US to preserve peace, security and democracy in Afghanistan. Trump, said sources, is looking for a new approach because the current one is not going anywhere. According to reports, Trump complained to his military generals that the US was "not winning" in Afghanistan. The effort, therefore, is to look at new approaches, said sources familiar with the exercise. The core of the new policy seems to rest on these pillars: bolstering the security forces in Afghanistan, bringing down training missions, pursuing terror groups like ISIS and al-Qaida and pushing the Ghani government to reform to some level of efficiency. The peace and reconciliation process, which was such an important part in the Obama administration policy, could be placed in a regional context that will involve Afghanistan's neighbours — which makes sense, given the dynamics that fuel Taliban's continued relevance in Afghanistan. While the Trump administration is demonstrably less enamoured of Pakistan than previous US governments, Washington is looking to use a "mix of tools" persuade Pakistan to cooperate with the US in Afghanistan. In previous years, Pakistan has used these openings to ask for more weapons and greater leeway against India. That's something India would like to avoid, the newspaper concluded. INP/AH/LK