US praises Pakistan's cooperation for peace in Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD -- The TruAmp administration's outgoing point person for South and Central Asia Alice Wells on Wednesday praised PakAistan for 'solid cooperation' for peace in AfghanAistan and emphasised that future of bilateral ties depended on Islamabad's continued support.

'We have seen over the last year, solid cooperation between Amb Khalilzad and the Pakistani civilian and military leadership to encourage the Taliban to take steps to reach the negotiating table,' Ambassador Wells said during an online media briefing in which she reviewed and reflected on US policies in the region during the past three years.

Amb Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the State Department, is retiring this month. This was possibly her last official media engagement.

'The advancement and improvement and the foundation for a stronger US-Pakistan partnership is premised on our ability to work together constructively to advance peace,' she underscored.

Recalling how the United States upped the pressure on Pakistan to deliver on its counter-terrorism expectations, the retiring senior diplomat said President Trump's strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia unequivocally made it clear to Pakistan that it needed to take 'decisive action' against groups, and the subsequent suspension of security assistance demonstrated Washington's 'resolve'.

'Since then we have seen constructive steps by Pakistan to encourage the Taliban to advance the Afghan peace process. Pakistan has also taken initial steps towards curtailing terrorist groups that threaten the region, such as arresting and prosecuting the LeT leader Hafiz Saeed and beginning to dismantle terrorist financing structures,' she further said.

Amb Wells said that the US-Pakistan ties, especially bilateral trade, expanded as Islamabad's commitment to peace in the region grew.

She said continuing violence in Afghanistan was at an 'unacceptable level'.

Noting that progress to intra-Afghan political negotiations in the peace process had been difficult, she said it...