WASHINGTON  -   Head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) General Joseph Votel has lauded Pakistan’s role for maintaining peace and stability in the region.

While giving briefing the House Armed Services Committee in the Senate, the general said “We have had some success with Pakistan, they’ve been more helpful in terms of bringing the Taliban to the [peace negotiating] table. As we have requested [from] them, we have seen instances where they have taken action against the safe haven areas.”

“Clearly, there is more they can do and we have encouraged them to continue to do that, but we have seen some positive indications,” he added.

General Votel said US forces have not yet been ordered to pull out of Afghanistan despite President Donald Trump’s plan to end involvement there. “We have not been directed to withdraw. There are no orders to withdraw anything,” General Joseph Votel told the committee.

“The political conditions of where we are in the reconciliation right now don´t merit” withdrawal,” he said.

After 17 years, Trump wants to end US involvement in Afghanistan, where 14,000 American troops are still deployed.

But Votel said that despite some positive signs in talks between the United States and the Taliban forces, there has still not been enough progress. One ongoing problem, he noted, is that the Taliban are still unwilling to negotiate directly with the Afghan government.

In addition, Afghan government troops are not yet ready to stand on their own, he said. “These decisions have to be based more on conditions than specific times” and must “pivot off political progress.”

“My advice is that any decision to reduce forces in Afghanistan should be done in full consultation with our coalition partners and of course the government of Afghanistan,” General Votel said and added “The Afghan forces are dependent on the coalition support we provide for them.”

Votel’s testimony to the committee comes as the Trump administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan negotiations, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been ramping up efforts to reach a peace deal with the Taliban in the 18-year-old war.

As part of that, the Pentagon has reportedly floated a plan that would see all US troops leave Afghanistan in the next three to five years. The Taliban, though, have reportedly rejected the proposal, demanding all foreign forces leave Afghanistan within a year.

Right now, there are about 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan with a dual mission of training, advising and assisting Afghan troops in their fight against the Taliban and conducting counterterrorism missions against groups such as ISIS.

Under the reported American proposal, the United States would withdraw roughly half of its 14,000 troops in the next few months, and the remaining troops would focus on the counterterrorism mission. The train-advise-assist mission would fall to the European and Australian troops in Afghanistan.

Lawmakers from both parties expressed deep skepticism at the prospect for success in negotiating peace with the Taliban, with several pointing out that the Afghan government has yet to be brought into the talks.

Votel, though, expressed optimism about progress being made, citing a three-day ceasefire last year and Pakistan becoming “more helpful.”

“In my view, we have come further in the last six months than we have at anytime in the last 18 years,” he said. “It is a difficult problem. We are still at the front end of this. I acknowledge that, and we have a way to go.”

The top US general also said that the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani supported the initiation of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban despite his public concerns.

“It is my observation, from my close discussions with (Zalmay Khalilzad) that he is in fact consulting with President Ghani on a regular basis, keeping him well informed and that the actual initiation of these discussions was done with President Ghani’s knowledge and support,” Votel said.