Pakistan, March 6 -- Nothing is impossible in Trump's America-or so the saying goes. Since this year's election in the free world, experts warned Islamabad that it would soon fall by the wayside in America's shifting priorities. The new administration, in its second term, appeared far less interested in engaging with external partners. Yet a surprising twist has upended that narrative. In a historic first, Pakistan became the sole country officially acknowledged in the opening address to Congress since January.

Pakistan's intelligence services, working closely with the CIA, deployed an elite unit to capture a key commander of an ISIL affiliate in Khorasan Province. This Afghan national is alleged to have masterminded the deadly August 20...