AFTER more than two months of mutual suspicion and public disagreement, positive signs are finally emerging about the state of the US-Pakistan alliance. ISI chief Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha`s trip to Washington this week made him the first high-profile Pakistani visitor to the US since the May 2 Osama bin Laden operation that at one point seemed to have resulted in a breakdown of the relationship. Although a series of senior American military, intelligence and State Department officials passed through Islamabad in the weeks following the raid to hold discussions on the future contours of the partnership, the decision to send the Pakistani intelligence head to the US signals that both sides share a sense of urgency about mending fences between the two countries` spy agencies — organisations that are critical to the success of counterterrorism cooperation. Gen Pasha`s trip followed visits to Islamabad this week by Gen Petraeus, Lt-Gen Allen, his soon-to-be successor as the commander of American and Nato troops in Afghanistan, and Centcom commander Gen Mattis. Few details about these discussions have been made public, but they appear to have involved substantive discussions on operational issues, including action on both sides of the border to stem the recent spate of militant attacks from Afghanistan`s north-eastern provinces into Pakistan.

Other signs, too, indicate that ties might be easing into what American officials have privately been calling the `new normal`. On Thursday the State Department told the Pakistani ambassador that the US would exercise caution in implicating Pakistan for this week`s terrorist attacks in Mumbai and called the finance minister to assure him that civilian aid would not be interrupted. Gen Pasha`s trip also followed closely on the heels of a relatively muted reaction from the Pakistan military to America`s announcement that $800m of US military aid would be withheld pending the resolution of certain issues related to counter- terrorism and intelligence cooperation.

Aside from the measured tone of the military`s response, what was particularly notable was the emphasis on using Pakistan`s own resources to fight terrorism, an important acknowledgment that the country`s security and foreign policies should aim for independence from foreign assistance. In a refreshing change from the pressure tactics applied and public suspicion demonstrated by both sides in recent weeks, their behaviour over the last few days provides reason to hope that a resolution of the strategic disconnects between them is not beyond reach.