Counter-terrorism talks on a new footing

Background

After 2021 the old security bargain - Pakistani access and cooperation in return for US reimbursements - was gone. Pakistan faced rising attacks by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and by Baloch separatists, while the United States was focused on ISIS-Khorasan and on preventing al-Qaeda's revival in Afghanistan.

What happened

The Pakistan–US Counter-Terrorism Dialogue met in Islamabad on 6–7 March 2023. The Pakistani side was led by Syed Haider Shah, an additional secretary at the Foreign Ministry, and the American by Christopher Landberg, the State Department's acting coordinator for counter-terrorism¹. According to the joint statement, the talks covered cooperation in multilateral forums, the regional counter-terrorism landscape, cyber security and countering violent extremism, and US assistance programmes in Pakistan, including capacity building in anti-money-laundering and the justice sector; both sides reaffirmed their commitment to address terrorism in all its forms and agreed to continue the dialogue^1,2.

The format endured across changes of administration. The fourth round was held in Washington on 4 August 2026, led by the US Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Gregory LoGerfo, and Pakistan's Special Secretary Nabeel Munir. The joint statement discussed border security and disrupting terrorist facilitation networks, and affirmed joint resolve against ISIS-K, al-Qaeda, the TTP and the Balochistan Liberation Army and its affiliates^3,4.

Why it mattered

The dialogue marked a shift from the Afghanistan-centred relationship of 2001–21 to one built on recognised common threats. The explicit naming of the TTP and BLA - Pakistan's principal enemies - alongside groups that threaten the United States reflected Pakistani requests, and followed the US designation of the BLA as a foreign terrorist organisation in August 2025⁵.

Legacy

Counter-terrorism remains the most institutionalised strand of the relationship, though older mutual suspicions have not disappeared.