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The US and Pakistan have achieved significant progress in the weekend talks, sparking speculations that NATO would invite Pakistan to the Chicago Summit in return for the country’s pledge to reopen the NATO supply routes, sources said. The Pak-Afghan-ISAF Trilateral Commission meeting came almost six months after U.S. airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, prompting the country to take retaliatory measures, including suspension of vital ground supplies of the NATO forces, reports The Nation. U.S. General John Allen, Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani and Afghan Army Chief General Sher Muhammad Karimi led their respective delegations at the trilateral military moot, primarily aimed at solving border management and coordination issues. According to unconfirmed reports, NATO has agreed to send a formal invitation to Pakistan for participation in the Chicago Summit that would discuss Afghanistan ’s future. This would follow Pakistan ’s opening of NATO land supply routes to Afghanistan , paving way for a deeper Pak-US engagement to reset their ties. Pakistan government has been saying that it would revisit bilateral ties in the light of parliamentary recommendations, calling for halt to drone attacks and an unconditional U.S. apology over the Salala attacks. But the U.S. has not been forthcoming on both these fronts. “ U.S. respects the parliamentary recommendations but it is entirely up to the President Obama’s Administration to decide which one of them was acceptable for mutual benefit and which one not,” the paper quoted a U.S. diplomat, as saying. The US Embassy spokesman Mark Stroh said the positive thing is that both sides are talking to each other to reach a conclusion. General Allen held preliminary talks with General Kayani on how to improve security in volatile areas bordering the two countries. “There was agreement these meetings are important to achieving continued progress toward... a peaceful Afghanistan so that Afghanistan can no longer be a safe haven for terrorists,” Allen said, according to an ISAF statement.

Pakistan, US nearing ‘deal’ on reopening of NATO supply routes