The Pakistani army recently announced to the Obama administration that no new military offensive against Al-Qaeda would be occurring in the country for at least the next six months, reports NPR. The US interprets this statement as another sign of Pakistan's alleged reluctance to take on extremist groups.

The announcement came as Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a visit to Islamabad for talks aimed at cementing the relationship and pushing Pakistan to expand its military campaign, remarks the news site. The Pakistani army Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas argued that the underlying reason for this decision was that the Pakistani army would need six months to a year to consolidate gains and regroup before it can launch any new operations.

Acknowledging that part of the problem in Pakistani-US operations lies in trust-building measures between both countries, Gates noted, "We have to do this in a way that is comfortable for them, and at a pace that they can accommodate and is tolerable for them."

While the tone was cordial during Gates' visit, notes NPR, the questions denote suspicion regarding US motives in Pakistan. Gates said he would address each concern, one by one. "And I can keep going," he added, "because we're aware of these conspiracy theories as much as anyone — and they're all nonsense."

However, Gates expressed his concerns however that "an organized propaganda campaign" was under way to taint Pakistani people's perceptions of the United States, while assuring Pakistan that ties between the two nations were based on "common interests and mutual respect," according to Earth Times.

Many Pakistanis regard the US presence in the region as being part of a hegemonic design to occupy both Afghanistan and Pakistan and take control of the strategic assets of the world's sole Muslim nuclear power - Pakistan.

"Pakistan is a sovereign country, and it is up to Pakistan when and where to launch an operation," the defense secretary told reporters in Islamabad. Pakistan is under growing pressure to expand an ongoing offensive in the South Waziristan tribal district-- a stronghold of militants associated with the insurgent group known as the Haqqani network.

Earth Times comments that the US stepped up missile strikes on militant hideouts in Pakistan's tribal areas in recent months. Pakistan publicly opposes the US drone attacks, complaining that they violate its territorial sovereignty and fuel support for the militants.

Gates continued his public diplomacy tour with an address to Pakistani military officers, to whom he declared his hope of forging an "even closer" relationship with Pakistan. "I just think it's useful to open a dialogue," he said.

Likewise, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently unveiled a long-term, non-military strategy to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan, reports DNA India. Her strategy involves bringing militants back to mainstream society, improving governance and transparency, and rebuilding the farming sector in the war-torn nation.

The news site points out that Washington is hoping to turn relations with Kabul and Islamabad into a long-haul partnership by supporting democratic elements and stepping up economic reforms.

"While our military mission in Afghanistan is not open-ended, we are committed to building lasting partnerships in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Clinton said in a statement timed with the release of the strategy.

Secretary of State Clinton reiterated the US's long-term engagement with Pakistan to help its people overcome development challenges while identifying wide-ranging areas of cooperation toward stability of the country, reports Brunei News.

Referring to the Kerry-Lugar bill, she added that Pakistan's democratic transition and widespread public backing for Pakistan's military operations against militants offer a great opportunity. Among the various types of aid the US will provide Pakistan, it "will also expand its public diplomacy effort to build increased people-to-people contacts, convey American policies effectively, and challenge the extremists' narrative," stated the news site.

However, the Taliban are also working on how they relate to local population, hoping to win the hearts and mind as they are currently overhauling their image to gain new allies while countering America's campaign in the region, reports The New York Times. The Taliban are resorting to sophisticated, new and traditional, media tools, are recasting themselves increasingly as a local liberation movement, as they are seeking to muster local popular support.

The Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, issued a lengthy directive late last spring outlining a new code of conduct for the Taliban, which among other things bans suicide bombing against civilians, cutting off ears and burning down schools. They also seem to try to distance themselves from Al-Qaeda.

The New York Times remarks that they are "capitalizing on the mounting frustration of Afghans with their own government and the presence of foreign troops." The Taliban's public relations operation is also increasingly efficient at putting out its message and often works faster than NATO's.

"The Afghan adaptation to counterinsurgency makes them much more dangerous," said a senior NATO intelligence official. "Their overarching goals probably haven't changed much since 2001, but when we arrived with a new counterinsurgency strategy, they responded with one of their own."

"The reason they changed their tactics is that they want to prepare for a long-term fight, and for that they need support from the people; they need local sources of income," commented Wahid Mujda, a former Taliban official who now tracks the insurgency on the Internet and frequently comments on Afghan television.

"People have no choices; they are in a dilemma," said Abdul Rahman, a tribal elder and businessman in Kandahar. "In places where the Taliban are active, the people are compelled to support them, they are afraid of the Taliban. And, in those places where government has a presence, the people are supporting the government," he said.

However, the Taliban is far from winning. According to a recent Defense Intelligence Agency survey, the Taliban's new strategy has failed to win over Afghans, and even though the insurgency may be carrying out fewer mutilations and beheadings, it still relies on intimidation.

The latest rhetoric from Taliban commanders is that the current insurgency is motivated by the Pashtuns of Afghanistan, who the Taliban claim are persecuted by the Afghan government.

While Pashtuns have been disproportionately affected by the Western military offensive, the insurgency is predominantly active in Pashtun areas, where it is difficult to separate civilians and fighters. "At the moment, the dueling propaganda wars seem to have reached a stalemate," concludes The New York Times.