By/Abdul Basit Khan

As Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir wrap up their trip to the White House, it’s clear the fulcrum of global geopolitics has changed once more. 

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 marked the end of the era of the global ‘war on terror.’ After two decades, the attention of the world moved from fighting terrorism to US-China competition. 

As a result, counterterrorism lost its global preeminence and the funding dried up not just for counterterrorism operations but also for research and advocacy. However, the threat of terrorism not only persisted, it mutated into something more complex, necessitating continued vigilance and policy interventions wherever necessary. 

Against this backdrop, the global counterterrorism model has evolved from a US-led, partner-enabled approach to a partner-led, US-enabled framework. The US is leveraging counterterrorism partnerships and the networks formed with various states during the war on terror to keep the evolving terror hotspots in check, especially in some Asian and African regions. 

The latest White House meeting has further renewed US-Pakistan counterterrorism cooperation and should be viewed in this context. 

It is marked by shared interests to combat terror networks capable of undermining regional and global security and commitment to peace. 

It is in sharp contrast to the US-Pakistan counterterrorism alliance during the ‘war on terror’ when the former persistently accused the latter of supporting the Haqqani Network and labeled it “the ally from hell” or the “frenemy.” 

At any rate, a series of critical developments underpin evolving counterterrorism cooperation between the two sides. 

They culminated in the US-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue in August where both sides resolved to develop effective approaches to combat Daesh-Khorasan, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). 

It is important to mention that the renewed US-Pakistan counterterrorism cooperation will not unlock the former’s generous funding. Rather, it will unfold in the form of technical assistance, training, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, intelligence sharing and coordination as well as the provision of specialized counterterrorism equipment like mine-resistant armored personnel carriers and night vision goggles. 

Three factors undergird the renewed US-Pakistan counterterrorism cooperation.

The foremost factor behind the US-Pakistan counterterrorism partnership is the transnational threat of Daesh-Khorasan. Despite recent setbacks to Daesh-K both in the physical and cyber domains, it has constituted a global network of terror, recruiting radicalized individuals online. 

Daesh-K’s ability to recruit from Central Asia, Turkiye, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot overseas attacks in Europe and the US has made it an imminent transnational threat for Western security. 

Despite Taliban’s ruthless crackdown, Daesh-K’s network has evolved rapidly, with a series of high-profile attacks in Russia, Iran and Turkiye last year. 

In March, Pakistan acting on a US tipoff arrested a Daesh-K operative and mastermind of the Abbey Gate attack. 

In his March address to Congress, US President Trump thanked Pakistan for help in apprehending him. 

Pakistan also busted a 48-member external operations Daesh unit in Balochistan in an operation spanning over seven months which dented its ability to plot overseas attacks.

Other factors facilitating the US-Pakistan counterterrorism cooperation is their shared outlook of evolving terror threats in Afghanistan. 

Both have withheld diplomatic recognition of the Taliban regime due to gaps in its counterterrorism commitment under the Doha Agreement 2020, a continued ban on girls’ right to education and the absence of an inclusive political system.

Another security aspect where Islamabad and Washington’s interests converge in Afghanistan is the use of small and light weapons the US left behind in Afghanistan by militant networks like the TTP and BLA. Trump has repeatedly asked the Taliban to return these weapons, and Pakistan has echoed and supported these US calls. 

Peace in Balochistan is another dimension where US and Pakistani security interests have congregated. Balochistan is home to one of the largest untapped copper-gold deposits in the world and the US is the largest consumer of critical minerals-- but lacks supply independence. As the world pivots to green energy, critical minerals are fast becoming the new oil. 

To secure Balochistan’s security environment for its investors, the US has aligned its interests with Pakistan and put the BLA and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, on the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. The FTO designation will make it harder for BLA to travel, raise funds internationally and recruit on different social media platforms.