Aftermath of terror attacks: US silence over Pak-Afghan tensions is mind-boggling

Amid prevailing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the wake of a spike in terror attacks, the US, a key stakeholder, has maintained an uncharacteristic silence apparently due to absence of any guidelines from the Trump administration. The US Embassy officials, the White House and the State Department remained silent on the latest tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In a meeting with Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry on February 22, the US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale stated that the US forces in Afghanistan have worked closely with their Afghan counterparts to strike the very groups who have claimed responsibility for the attacks in Pakistan.
According to a statement issued following the meeting, the Ambassador further stated that the United States will continue to work in partnership with Pakistan to dismantle terror networks. Following the recent terror attacks, Pakistan undertook different measures, including cross border strikes, against the hideouts of terrorists in Afghanistan as well as closure of Pak-Afghan border for all kinds of communications and summoning of Afghan Embassy officials to the GHQ to share details of 76 most wanted terrorists hiding in Afghanistan, asking the country to hand them over to Pakistan.
Concerned over the strikes and closure of the border, Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Omar Zakhilwal held meetings at GHQ with military leadership as well as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and sought immediate reopening of the border crossings, while agreeing on a close cooperation on security issues.
A senior Foreign Office official while talking toBusiness Recorder said that "security of the country and our people is the top most priority due to which the recent measures were undertaken". "As far as the Afghan government's apprehensions are concerned, there are certain red lines which will not be crossed when there is security threat to the country and safety of our people", the official said, requesting anonymity. On border management, the official said that Pakistan has already shared proposals with the concerned Afghan authorities relating to measures to be undertaken along the border to avert cross border terrorists' infiltration.
The Afghan envoy on Thursday turned to Facebook and twitter to call upon the Pakistani authorities to reopen the border crossing for trade and other activities. Dr Zakhilwal said that "As part of the quick de-escalation of the prevailing tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as agreed in our talks with the relevant Pak [Pakistan] authorities a couple of days ago, Torkham, Spin Boldak and other crossing points should have reopened by now, but unfortunately still remain shut".
He stated that the formal trade and transit crossing points between the two countries, under no circumstances, should have been closed in the first place, both as per Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement (APTTA) and also because Afghanistan being a land-locked country has transit right as per international rules. "The closure of these crossing points, which are heavily regulated with full checking arrangements on both sides, serve no purpose other than to inflict hardship on ordinary people and hurt trade and transit", he added. Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said that Pak-Afghan border will be reopened in due course of time.