ISLAMABAD/Lahore -  An “optimistic” Pakistan aiming to improve trust level with Washington will receive today US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is coming with a mind to “pressure Pakistan” and reiterate the threat issued earlier by President Trump.

On his one-day visit, Tillerson will hold talks with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Senior officials at the foreign ministry told The Nation, that Pakistan was “well-prepared” for US top official’s visit and was hopeful of building the trust level for joint efforts against terrorism and for global peace.

But the US Secretary of State, who arrived Monday in Afghanistan on a surprise visit, said America’s future policy towards Pakistan would base on whether Islamabad takes action that “we feel is necessary”.

“We have made some very specific requests of Pakistan in order for them to take action to undermine the support the Taliban receives and other terrorist organisations receive,” he told a press conference after meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah at the heavily protected Bagram Airfield.

His trip came after one of the bloodiest weeks in Afghanistan in recent memory as the Taliban attacked multiple security installations and Islamic State bombed a mosque in the Afghan capital. Taliban described the spate of attacks as a "message" to America.

US policy toward Islamabad “will be based upon whether they take action that we feel is necessary to move the process forward for both creating opportunity for reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan but also ensuring a stable future for Pakistan,” the secretary of state said.

Islamabad needed to “take a clear-eyed view of the situation that they are confronted with in terms of the number of terrorist organisations that find safe haven inside” the country, he said. “We want to work closely [with] Pakistan to create a more stable and secure Pakistan as well,” Tillerson added.

However, despite it’s being a difficult time in Pak-US ties officials in Islamabad were hopeful that Tillerson’s visit would pave a way for improvement in the bilateral ties, which dipped to one of the lowest ever levels after Trump announced a new policy for South Asia.

“Understandably this is not the ideal time for Pakistan as far as relations with the US are concerned but we are optimistic to improve the working relationship and revive partnership. We are ready to be lenient except for the US military operations inside Pakistan. All eyes are on Tillerson naturally,” said one official.

He added: “We have been working on this [Tillerson’s visit] for weeks and are going into the important meetings well prepared.”

Tillerson spent almost three hours at Bagram, most of the time in talks with Ghani, Abdullah and other US and Afghan officials.

A small group of US media accompanying him on his first official visit to Afghanistan were prohibited for security reasons from filing reports until they returned to Qatar.

The top US diplomat announced that from Islamabad, he would fly to India to discuss a request that it expand its economic and development assistance to Afghanistan.

Trump Administration in its new policy on the region envisages a greater Indian role in Afghanistan, something that perturbs Pakistan for it claims that Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies are already fanning terrorism on its soil.

Tillerson is visiting Pakistan on the invitation of Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, who met the secretary of state earlier this month in Washington.

An official statement said: “Pak-US relations, stability in Afghanistan and regional security issues will be discussed during the meetings.”

Last week, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria had welcomed positive statements from the US about relations with Pakistan. 

He said that there had been a positive development recently in “our relations with the United States.”

The spokesperson referred to Prime Minister Abbasi’s meeting with the US Vice President Mike Pence on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month, which was followed by the foreign minister’s visit to Washington and the US delegation’s visit to Islamabad.

During these talks both sides agreed to stay engaged to address common challenges.

Another official at the foreign ministry told The Nation that PM Abbasi, Khawaja Asif and General Bajwa had consulted each other on Tillerson’s meetings.

“They will try to defuse the impression that Pakistan is protecting some militants’ groups. We have been telling the world we do not discriminate among terrorists and will reiterate this stance. Terrorists can’t be our friends,” he added.

The official said Pakistan’s civil and military leadership was not ready to allow the US forces to operate inside Pakistan but Islamabad was willing to enhance intelligence sharing to a greater level to restrict militants’ activities.

He said that India’s interference in Pakistan and bloodshed in held Kashmir would also be discussed with the US secretary of state.

“We will brief Rex Tillerson on how India is using Afghanistan’s soil against us and why India should not be allowed to penetrate too much in Afghanistan,” the official added.

International relations expert Dr Pervez Iqbal Cheema said that despite its tilt towards India, the US could not ignore Pakistan.

“Without Pakistan, they cannot resolve the Afghanistan issue. The new round of talks should build confidence, which will be helpful for both the countries,” he said.

Cheema said that there had always been ups and downs in the Pak-US relations.

“Ties between countries should not depend on incidents. If a US national is abducted or recovered, it should only be treated as an incident not pre-planned action of the government [of Pakistan]. Of course we have also sacrificed much in the war on terror but we never shifted blame on others,” he said.

The expert said that India’s involvement in Afghanistan would only create problems.

“The US should not engage India on Afghanistan. Pakistan desires peace in Afghanistan, while India wants to use it against Pakistan. The US should understand it,” he maintained.

Defence analyst Naeem Khalid Lodhi said the visits of the prime minister and the foreign minister to the US helped improve ties.

He said that Washington was also realising that the world was no more uni-polar.

“Pakistan has good ties with Russia too and its relationship with China is beyond any doubt. Pakistan is not totally dependent on the US,” Lodhi said, citing PM Abbasi’s recent statement.

He said that the US should also clarify its position on held Kashmir as India had crossed all limits in the occupied territory.