President Ashraf Ghani's outreach is but an effort to normalise relations with Pakistan, though it may seem a bit drastic in view of the often skewed nature of relations between the two neighbours, who share much in common.
Less than five months into office and in what appears to be a hard-headed calculation of Afghanistan's priorities and constraints, Ghani has broken the ice on the entrenched foreign policy traditions that have bogged down the country for over a decade under Hamid Karzai's leadership.
Also read: Ghani dubs Pakistan 'important pillar' of Afghanistan foreign policy
The Afghan government has apprehended a number of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in the wake of TTP's massacre of children in a military-run school in Peshawar, arguably acquiesced to the delivery of captured TTP operative Latif Mehsud and his associates to Pakistan, resumed border security cooperation which had been suspended due to Karzai's dislike of the word "border" instead of "Durand Line" in the proposed cooperation agreement.
It has additionally taken up Pakistan's longstanding offer to allow Afghan army cadets to train in Pakistan and arguably even put on hold Karzai's earlier request for weapons from India.
Ghani's seemingly bold moves, which enjoy the support or at least the passive acquiescence of his Government of National Unity (GNU) partner Abdullah Abdullah, seem intended to align policy with reality.
The pivotal decision reflecting this realignment of policy is manifest in Ghani's direct engagement with the military establishment as the real powerbroker in Pakistan. It sets in sharp contrast with his predecessor's delusional policy of seeking to bypass the military establishment through "brotherly" ties with Pakistan's ineffective civilian leadership.
