Pakistan’s foreign policy machinery completed a full U-turn in less than 24 hours first nominating US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize and then harshly condemning his administration’s military actions against Iran. This extraordinary volte-face has sparked questions about the coherence, credibility, and consistency of Islamabad’s foreign policy in a time of regional turmoil.
The contradiction wasn’t exposed by fringe sources or anonymous leaks it was broadcast to the world by two of the most prominent international and national media houses. CNN World broke the story of Pakistan’s extravagant praise of Trump, hailing him as a “genuine peacemaker” for his role in halting a dangerous flare-up between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, Hindustan Times reported Pakistan’s angry denunciation of the United States barely a day later, accusing Washington of violating international law after it launched strikes on Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure.
Pakistan's "centre of gravity" shifted in less than 24 hours! pic.twitter.com/Ewivn0poPJ
— THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) June 22, 2025
From “stellar statesmanship” to “unprecedented aggression”—Pakistan’s 24-hour reversal
According to a report by CNN World, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry issued a detailed statement on June 21 formally nominating Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, citing his “decisive diplomatic intervention” during the bloody May 2025 conflict along the India-Pakistan border in Kashmir. The week-long violence was the most serious escalation between the two nuclear powers since the 1971 war, killing over 60 people and pushing both sides to the brink.
The Pakistani government glorified Trump’s role in securing the May 8 ceasefire as “pivotal leadership” that “averted a broader conflict between two nuclear states.”
“At a moment of heightened regional turbulence, President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi,” read the statement published by CNN.
Pakistan went so far as to post its endorsement on X, publicly backing President Trump’s candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize. The statement also echoed Trump’s own frustration, as he lamented on Truth Social that despite brokering peace in “India-Pakistan, Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran,” the Nobel Committee “won’t give me a Nobel Peace Prize because they only give it to liberals.”
But even before the digital ink on the Nobel nomination was dry, Islamabad had executed a sharp reversal.
Hindustan Times: Pakistan slams Trump-led US for Iran strikes
On June 22, Hindustan Times reported that Pakistan had strongly condemned the United States’ military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities—strikes that were greenlit by none other than Donald Trump, the man Pakistan had just praised as a peace icon. The Pakistani Foreign Office expressed “grave concern” and said the strikes “violate all norms of international law.”
“Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond,” Pakistan warned, invoking international humanitarian law and urging all parties to return to the principles of the UN Charter.
This sudden shift came amidst reports that over 400 Iranians had been killed in the retaliatory conflict between Israel and Iran, with at least 24 Israelis also dead. Trump’s decision to launch a limited but intense US strike on Iranian targets has intensified fears of a full-scale war in West Asia.
Yet the hypocrisy of Pakistan’s position couldn’t be more glaring: In one breath, President Trump was celebrated as a peacemaker; in the next, he was condemned as the instigator of illegal aggression.
The contradiction has not gone unnoticed. Former diplomats, security analysts, and observers from South Asia and the West have been quick to call out what they see as “opportunistic duplicity” in Pakistan’s international behavior.
“This is not diplomacy. This is theatre,” said a former Indian envoy to the UN. “You can’t declare someone a savior of peace on June 21 and then denounce him as a violator of international law on June 22. Either Pakistan’s foreign policy is being scripted on X, or they believe the world’s memory resets every 24 hours.”
New Delhi, while officially silent on the matter, has long maintained that Pakistan’s diplomatic strategy lacks consistency and is often guided by desperation for global relevance rather than grounded national interest.
Even within Pakistan, cracks have begun to show. Critics within the country’s strategic community are questioning whether such contradictory public messaging serves any serious national objective or if it only reinforces Pakistan’s growing reputation as a state that lurches from one narrative to the next in search of attention.
There’s also a deeper ideological tension at play. While Pakistan views Trump as a useful ally when it comes to countering India and gaining leverage in Kashmir, it simultaneously feels compelled to side with Iran due to religious solidarity and pan-Islamic sentiment. This tug-of-war has historically plagued Islamabad’s diplomacy—balancing its pro-West orientation with the need to appease the broader Muslim world.
