President Donald Trump will announce his new strategy for Afghanistan - which his administration now calls a South Asia strategy - on Monday night during an address to the nation, the White House has announced. Mr. Trump will “provide an update on the path forward for America’s engagement in Afghanistan and South Asia,” a statement from the White House said.

Defence Secretary James Mattis said the President has taken the “strategic decisions,” and the Pentagon would follow it up once it is announced. “The President had to make strategic decisions. …he delegated to me …tactical and operational decisions. He did not delegate one ounce of the strategic decision,” he said, refusing to preview the President’s announcement, during an interaction with reporters traveling with him to Jordan on Sunday. “The process was rigorous. …. I'm very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a preset condition in terms of what questions could be asked or what decisions would be made,” he said.

The President had, during his election campaign, spoken against American involvements in long drawn foreign battles, but Afghanistan poses a security threat to homeland. National security is another of his critical political planks, and his new Afghan strategy will have to balance his desire to disengage from conflicts with the need to secure America against another terrorist strike. He has expressed frustration that America has not concluded the Afghan war in 16 years, which began after jihadi forces that it helped create to fight the Soviet Union turned against it in 2001, with terrorists strikes in New York and Washington D.C.

Pakistan, America’s partner and promoter in supporting the Taliban then, has begun to use the jihadis to its own strategic objectives, and demanding it to change will be part of the new strategy. Mr. Mattis did not specifically answer a question on whether “this administration can actually have an impact on Pakistan.” “It is a South Asia strategy. It is not just an Afghanistan strategy. So if you look at the region, it's a South Asia strategy, and we'll be addressing those issues in it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Joseph Votel, Commander of United States Central Command spent two days in Pakistan over the weekend, telling Pakistan about a new “carrot and stick policy” on the anvil, according to The Nation. “The Trump Administration has bluntly told us that they will not pay us for our own [Pakistan’s] war against terror but will help where Pakistan can achieve their [US] goals. For example, peace in Afghanistan. [They mean] carrots when we work for them and sticks when we don’t fulfil their expectations,” the paper quoted an anonymous official telling it.

A release by the U.S embassy in Islamabad said the general, in “his discussions with Pakistani leaders, emphasized that all parties must work to ensure that Pakistani soil is not used to plan or conduct terrorist attacks against its neighbors.” “Military cooperation, and even stronger cooperation with Pakistan, is very important, and we deeply appreciate the hospitality and willingness to continue an honest and open relationship,” said General Votel. “We are extraordinarily pleased to continue these enduring relationships.”