As the United States looks forward to keeping its military forces in Afghanistan beyond May this year, the country is likely to see more “productive” relations with Pakistan, experts believe.

According to a report in Dawn, James M Lindsey, the vice president at the Council For Foreign Relations, predicted a better understanding between the Pentagon and The White House on the deployment of forces in Afghanistan.

In doing so, the US obviously would need cooperation from Pakistan. Under the Doha agreement- which Pakistan’s foreign minister had called the right way to achieve peace and stability in Afghanistan- foreign forces are expected to withdraw from Afghanistan by May 2021.

But with little progress in the intra-Afghan talks and rising violence, the complete withdrawal looks uncertain by the May deadline. Presently, the new US administration is reviewing the Doha agreement. On the other hand, NATO would make a decision on its troop presence this month.

Pointing to the longstanding, and somewhat complicated, relations between the two nations, Lindsay said, “the Biden administration would like to do what it can to make (the) relationship more productive.”

But there are a couple of issues that pose a significant challenge to the relations: first, the acquittal of Ahmed Omar Sheikh, the main accused in the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl; second, the tense relations between Pakistan and India- the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

Earlier, the understanding between the US and Pakistan derailed due to the latter’s constant covert support for the Afghan Taliban which had grossly undermined American’s effort to establish a stable peaceful Pakistan. On the one hand, Pakistan was a key partner in America's war on terror while on the other hand, it provided active covert support to the same groups that Americans sought to defeat.

However, in the last two years, Pakistan played an instrumental role in bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table that ultimately resulted in the signing of the Doha agreement between the US and the Taliban on 29 February 2020.

Interestingly, ever since the new Biden administration took charge, many Pakistan officials expressed their willingness to have a comprehensive relationship with the US that goes beyond the US’ regional security interests.

Moeed Yusuf, the special assistant to Pakistan’s prime minister on national security, had earlier said Pakistan would like to forge an economic partnership with the United States. Expressing similar views, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also hoped for decoupling the US-Pakistan relations from the regional security dynamic.