“Diplomacy is the art of telling people to go to hell in such a way that they ask for directions.”

Only Winston Churchill could have come up with this brilliant line, although there are numerous equally eloquent quotes by lesser known individuals when it comes to the art of conducting international relations.

Diplomacy often means mouthing sweet nothings which have the power to achieve what is impossible through arm-twisting. But essentially, its intended outcome is the same: serving one’s own vested interests.

A little “sorry” from Hillary Clinton has provided Pakistan the fig leaf of a diplomatic victory in its ties with the US and a resultant temporary high that it has brought the world’s only superpower to its knees.

For the US, it has brought the promise of an uninterrupted supply of fuel and other provisions to the coalition forces in Afghanistan that were stopped after 24 Pakistani soldiers were ‘‘mistakenly” killed by a US aircraft looking for militants.

“Foreign Minister (Hina Rabbani) Khar and I acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives,” Clinton said in a statement.

“We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military. We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Both the US and Pakistan are winners. Or are they?

Lorry drivers in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, from where most of the supplies are taken to Afghanistan, danced and sang for joy when news broke that Pakistan would resume the transport of fuel to the coalition forces in Afghanistan. Unemployed for months, they now look forward to having a steady income once again.

The Pakistani government is also happy now that Washington would promptly release about $ 1.1bn to its military from a US “coalition support fund” designed to reimburse the country for the cost of counter-insurgency operations. The money had been frozen due to the tensions between the two countries.

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf also acknowledged it was time to end the blockade.

But the Taliban are already itching for action. The terror group has promised to not only attack the supply convoys but also kill the drivers of the trucks that deliver them.

Pakistan’s religious parties, who have strong ties with the Taliban, have also planned protests against the decision and also hope to rope in Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) party chief Imran Khan to lend some credibility to their campaign.

“We will observe the protest day against resumption of Nato supplies on July 6 and hold a long march from Lahore to Islamabad on July 8,” chairman of the Defence of Pakistan coalition, Maulana Samiul Haq said.

It’s anybody’s guess where Pakistani-US relations are headed at the moment. A spike in violence looks inevitable now, putting Pakistan’s security at further risk. Having nurtured the Taliban in the past, the Pakistani establishment is clueless about what to do them. At the same time, it cannot afford to antagonise America. After all, Pakistan is dependent on US aid for survival.

Is there a way out for Pakistan? Only time will tell.