On 18 October 2017, US Vice-President Pence telephoned Abbasi to thank the government of Pakistan for the safe recovery of the Canadian-American couple Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman. On 24 October, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made his maiden visit to Pakistan to normalise the bilateral ties which became strained over remarks of Trump in August. Tillerson met Abbasi and reiterated Trump's message that Pakistan must speed up its efforts to against terrorist groups operating within the country and described Pakistan as "incredibly important" player in the region.