May 31: Deutsche Welle report by Anwar Iqbal states that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed a new strategy for Taliban negotiations at a congressional hearing earlier this week, where he also claimed that US officials and diplomats were "being treated badly" in Pakistan. "The effort (is) to apply all elements of the United States' government pressure, so that the Taliban will come to the negotiating table," he told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Now we need to find the right leadership inside the Taliban to participate in those discussions." The two statements – about mistreatment of diplomats and going ahead with the Afghan peace process without Pakistan – confirm that relations between the two allies are at their lowest ebb.

Read More I