Not surprisingly, counter-terrorism is one of the top issues on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's agenda during her visit to India. Though no extremist organization has claimed responsibility for last week's triple blasts in Mumbai, it reminded the Indian media of the 2008 Mumbai attack by terrorists who had slipped into India from Pakistan.

Last week's triple blasts in India's business capital may create new challenges for India and Pakistan, the long-time rivals in South Asia. Some Indian media outlets have hinted at the possible involvement of Islamic extremists from Pakistan in the latest attack on Mumbai.

The relations between the United States and Pakistan have suffered after the killing of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, as was evident when the Barack Obama administration unveiled its new anti-terrorism strategy and suspended its military aid of $800 million to Islamabad.

Clinton said the US has made it clear to Pakistan that confronting terrorism in all forms is in Islamabad's interest. Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna responded by saying that terror sanctuaries in Pakistan need to be eliminated for regional peace and stability. And last week, Krishna welcomed Washington's decision to suspend the $800-million aid to Islamabad.

The US and India both are doing the opposite of what they should have done to help Pakistan fight terrorists. Their hard stance could provoke Pakistanis and help Islamic extremists strengthen their base in Pakistan.

Islamabad has greatly helped the fight against terrorists during Washington's 10-year-long "war on terror". But the US hasn't treated Pakistan as an equal partner. It even criticized Pakistan after bin Laden's killing. The convert US raid on bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan, further affected the dysfunctional strategic mutual trust between the two countries.

The US' covert raid on bin Laden's hideout was just one example of the deteriorating relations between the US and Pakistan. One of the principal reasons why their ties began cooling down is the regular air strikes by US troops deployed in Afghanistan on terrorist targets on the Pakistani side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which have left many civilian casualties and evoked public protests and indignation in Pakistan.

On its part, Washington has become increasingly unhappy with Islamabad's sluggish action against terrorists' strongholds in Waziristan in northwest Pakistan and fears that Pakistan's military intelligence has secret links with terrorist groups like the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Haqqani network.

The US and Pakistan have failed to fix the priorities in their cooperation. The US pays little or no attention to the complexity in Pakistan's domestic politics. It does not think much about Pakistan's national interests while handling the Afghan issue either. After Obama entered the White House, his administration expanded the "war on terror" in Afghanistan to tribal areas in Pakistan with serious consequences to Islamabad. In comparison, Pakistan's anti-terrorism strategy is based on its internal stability and aimed at resolving the Afghan issue in a way that would better serve its national interests.

The US may have its reasons for the overtly pro-India stance in its South Asia strategy. But that could harm Pakistan's national security and the sustainability of US-Pakistan relations.

Over the past 10 years, the US has treated India as Pakistan's arch rival, as a global strategic partner - providing it with civilian nuclear fuel and technology - and has let India spread its influence in Afghanistan. Clinton's visit to India will consolidate that cooperation. In contrast, the US has treated Pakistan only as a regional partner in its fight against terrorism and its aid to Islamabad have always come with a set of conditions, some of which have harmed Pakistan's sovereignty and security. Also, the US has thwarted Pakistan's efforts to develop nuclear energy for civilian use and build oil pipelines.

Inequity and distrust are rooted deeply in US-Pakistan ties. The covert US raid on bin Laden's hideout enraged Pakistan because it was carried out on Pakistani territory without Islamabad's prior knowledge. The raid intensified anti-US sentiments in Pakistan, too. Besides, while lauding the US raid that killed bin Laden, the West has questioned Pakistan's trustworthiness as an anti-terrorism ally.

The killing of bin Laden has made Washington reduce its anti-terrorism front and prompted a change in US-Pakistan ties. Washington's new anti-terrorism strategy is explicitly aimed at ensuring security within the US and strengthening special operations, rather than traditional military means, against terrorists. This strategic change means Pakistan's role as an anti-terrorism ally is becoming less important to the US.

In more ways than one, bin Laden's killing has been a turning point in the US' anti-terrorism strategy and has created uncertainties for the US-Pakistan anti-terrorism alliance as well as bilateral ties.

But if the US is really serious about fighting terrorism in South Asia, it should treat India and Pakistan more equally, instead of standing closer to New Delhi and putting extra pressure on Islamabad. This will promote peace in the region and eventually help the US achieve its anti-terrorism goal. Or else, it could yield the opposite result.

The author is the director of the Center for Counterterrorism Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.