Pakistan and the United States have agreed to advance practical cooperation in bilateral, regional and global issues during a meeting of the national security advisers of the two nations in Geneva.

“Both sides had a positive conversation on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues of mutual interest and agreed to advance practical cooperation on these issues,” read a statement issued by the office of NSA, Pakistan Today reported.

The meeting between Pakistani NSA Moeed Yusuf and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan is considered significant against the backdrop of the current Afghan situation, that observers believe will determine the future of Pak-US cooperation.

It is the first high-level face-to-face contact between the two nations since Joe Biden took office as US President, Tribune reported.

The two sides have not explained as yet on why they opted for a third country for the meeting.

The meeting appears to be necessitated by the current situation in Afghanistan where there is a stalemate after little progress in the intra-Afghan talks.

The US troop withdrawal has threatened further instability, and Washington, along with other regional countries, is keen to seek a political deal before the last US soldier leaves the war-ravaged country by September 11, the report added.

It is believed that the NSA went to Geneva with a brief envisaging the country’s plan on how to expand ties with the US beyond Afghanistan.

Pakistan is keen to ensure its relationship with the US is not security-driven and Washington must not look at Islamabad through the same lens it views China or India.

(SAM)