WASHINGTON, March 5: The second session of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue will be held in Islamabad next week at a time when relations between the United States and one of its key allies in the war against terror seem to be deteriorating rapidly.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns will lead the US delegation at the meeting which begins early next week. Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan will lead the Pakistani team.

Pakistan’s Ambassador Mahmud Durrani leaves for Islamabad shortly for consultations that will focus on the dialogue but will also cover recent developments in Washington, diplomatic sources told Dawn. He will also attend a conference of key Pakistani ambassadors.

The first session of the strategic dialogue was held in April last year in Washington where both sides agreed to enhance their efforts to fight terrorism and pledged to increase bilateral trade.

The decision to launch a forum for strategic dialogue was announced in Islamabad on March 4 last year when US President George W. Bush visited Pakistan.

After the talks, Mr Bush and President Pervez Musharraf told a joint news conference in Islamabad that the dialogue will “strengthen mutual understanding” on issues of concern and “foster the process of further broadening and deepening the bilateral relationship”.

In keeping with the spirit of the Islamabad declaration, the two sides took immediate steps to broaden their “deep and multifaceted” relationship, as a congressional report later noted.

In early May, Undersecretary of Defence Eric Edelman hosted a Pakistani delegation in Washington for a meeting of the US-Pakistan Defence Consultative Group, the first since February 2005.

In early June, a meeting of the US-Pakistan-Afghanistan Tripartite Commission in Rawalpindi included discussions on intelligence sharing and border security.

Later in June, a meeting of the US-Pakistan Energy Dialogue was held in Washington.

In late June, Secretary of State Rice visited Islamabad, where she reiterated US commitment to Pakistan.

Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri met Secretary Rice in Washington in July for further discussions on bilateral relations.

The inaugural meeting of the US-Pakistan Joint Committee on Science and Technology was held in Washington in July.

Later in July, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace met President Musharraf in Rawalpindi to discuss issues of mutual interest.

In August, Commander of the US Central Command Gen. John Abizaid returned to Pakistan to consult top Pakistani leaders.

In September, President Bush met with President Musharraf at the White House and later hosted a dinner for both President Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

But the situation has changed so rapidly during the last six months that 2006 seems like another era. Since the Democratic victory in November’s congressional elections, Pakistan has been constantly targeted for its alleged failure to rein in Taliban and Al Qaeda militants hiding in the tribal belt.

The issue of Taliban resurgence in the tribal belt was discussed in bilateral meetings in 2006 as well but behind closed doors. In public both sides insisted that they had excellent cooperation on all issues.

This has changed. Now Pakistan is blamed, not only for its own failures but also for those of the Karzai government as well. And it is not just the Democrats who criticize Pakistan. Senior administration officials also do so.

The former director National Intelligence John Negroponte told a Senate committee on Jan 12 that the leaders of Al Qaeda had found a secure hideout in Pakistan from where they were rebuilding their strength.

His successor, retired vice admiral Michael McConnell, identified Pakistan as a “major source” of religious terrorism at a Senate hearing last week and said that Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri were probably also hiding on the Pakistani side of the Pak-Afghan border.

Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples told the same hearing that "Pakistan-based militants’ continued attacks against India undermine Pakistan's ability to make lasting peace with its neighbour”.

Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the outgoing top US commander in Afghanistan, called for direct US military strikes on alleged terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan and, according to Senator Diane Feinstein, Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a similar message to President Musharraf when he met him in Islamabad a week ago.