Editor's note: Azhar Azam works in a private organization as a market & business analyst and writes about geopolitical issues and regional conflicts.The article reflects the author's opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) endorsed and notified Congress about a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Pakistan for Technical Security Team (TST) in continued support of the F-16 program for an estimated cost of 125 million U.S dollars.

"This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by protecting U.S. technology through the continued presence of U.S. personnel that provide 24/7 end-use monitoring," the news release stated.

It is not the first time the U.S. has shown its intent to supply military support to Pakistan. In February 2016, it had approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, the sale of which was also said to contribute "to U.S. foreign policy objectives and national security goals by helping to improve the security of a strategic partner in South Asia." Nevertheless, the intended sale was later blocked by the U.S. Congress.

The latest U.S. move is widely seen against the backdrop of the Khan-Trump meeting in Washington last week, where the U.S. president hailed Pakistan's efforts in bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table and facilitating the Afghan peace process.

As U.S. tries to mend its ties with its former Cold War ally, Pakistan needs to be very mindful and extremely wary of a possible U.S. trap. Unfortunately, relations between the two sides suffer a huge trust deficit.

In 1980s, Washington had Islamabad act as a decoy to rout the Soviet Union from Afghanistan. Once the U.S. achieved its strategic objectives, it deserted Pakistan and imposed economic and military sanctions on the Islamic Republic in the early 1990s over possession of nuclear explosive devices.

It was obviously an implacable U.S. action, which could have left Pakistan’s defense in tatters because of its greater reliance on U.S. military equipment and F-16 fighter jets, in particular. At this critical time, had China not come to Pakistan's defense, the damage to its national sovereignty could have been irreversible.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the U.S. once again pressed Pakistan to support its global war on terror by seeking its help to topple the Taliban in Afghanistan. As soon as the U.S. was done, it abandoned Pakistan again and shifted its interests towards India to check China's growing influence in the region.

When it comes to China – Pakistan, indeed, has always been the most unlikely ally to become a part of any veiled Washington plan that could have bruised its "sweeter than honey" friend due to its deep rapport with Beijing.

In the same year that Pakistan was denied the delivery of F-16s, the U.S. rebirthed its "pivot to Asia" strategy that declared India a Major Defense Partner (MDP) and signed Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with it in a bid to counter China's growing military might.

Now the U.S.' so-called foreign policy objectives urge it to pull out from Afghanistan and also needs it to punish India over purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. So the Trump administration is relying yet again on Islamabad to end the impasse in the Afghan war and the possibility of New Delhi’s re-inclination to the Kremlin.

Although both issues underwrite Pakistan's national interests, pragmatically, U.S. would never push India into a situation that could impede its wider regional goal to restrict Chinese economic and military outgrowth.

Hence, the top U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia Affairs (SCA) Alice G. Wells quickly walked away from Trump's prior assertion about having obtained Modi’s request for mediation between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute.

"While Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss, the Trump administration welcomes Pakistan and India sitting down and the United States stands ready to assist," she said in a tweet from the State Department’s Twitter handle on July 22.

The U.S. retreat within hours of Trump’s proclamation shows it lacks the willingness and seriousness regarding the resolution of the Kashmir issue that has time and again shoved the two South Asian countries to the brink of nuclear war. In addition, the U.S. reckless and erratic stance on the longstanding Kashmir issue could stretch the reemerging bilateral Pak-U.S. trust after an extended breakdown.

Kashmir is a regional flashpoint that has consistently battered the Indo-Pak relations since their independence from the British Empire. As long as India and Pakistan continue to engage in a row over Kashmir, the U.S. would have a greater opportunity to increase its influence in the region.

Peace in Afghanistan is firmly knotted with U.S. regional ambitions. While peaceful resolution of Kashmir issues would inversely affect U.S. influence in the region, it would fancy that India and Pakistan linger to fight on the demographic ticking bomb.

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