BEIJING, Dec10 (INP): US President Donald Trump’s recent letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan reflects failure of American’s Afghan policy.

Trump took a U-turn, first he expressed irritation with Pakistan on Twitter. Then a few days later, he spared no efforts in praising Islamabad's role in regional security, say a report published in Chinese leading newspaper, the Global Times on Monday.

The report says, earlier the US made a series of complaints about Pakistan doing nothing in return for US military assistance and withheld military assistance valued up to $2.5 billion. Worse, Washington forbade Pakistani military personnel from training at American military academies.

Trump's letter stressed that both the US and Pakistan have suffered huge losses in the war in Afghanistan and expressed his hope that Pakistan could play a more positive role in the regional peace process. The U-turn suggests a US desire to end the war decently.

Trump's letter came within a global context that in November Russia hosted an Afghanistan Peace Conference in Moscow with the presence of the Afghan Taliban. Iran was also invited. Although fruitless, it was the first international conference chaired by a permanent member of the UN Security Council. For the Taliban, attending the conference showed that negotiating with Washington was not its only diplomatic option.

All signs indicate that the US is losing its dominance in the Afghan peace process, which is apparently not what the Trump administration wants.

The Trump administration previously used to highlight India's role in the future reconstruction of Afghanistan and publicly blast Pakistan, trying to force Islamabad to do what Washington asks. But the US has come to realize it must seek help from Pakistan after its negotiations failed with the Taliban.

INP/J/AJ