The geopolitical wildfire that engulfed West Asia seems to be paused for a while as an impact of the ceasefire announced by the President of the United States Donald J. Trump. He declared a temporary full stop for the firing and asserted that the negotiations are underway to halt the hostilities & reach a deal. Beyond the ceasefire declaration, what hit the headlines in India is the role of Pakistan in the processes of cessation of firing. As soon as the news broke out, fake narratives began to bombard the media platforms in India, declaring the country’s foreign policy as “failed”. The intention was to picturise India’s diplomatic capabilities in a negative shade by claiming that New Delhi missed an opportunity to be a mediator in a conflict that had severely fractured the geopolitical and economic landscape of the globe.
Was Pakistan a genuine mediator in the ceasefire process? Did the United States and Iran accept the terms and conditions proposed by Islamabad to halt the hostilities? Will Pakistan really bring the warring parties to a common platform and find a lasting solution to the historical crisis of West Asia? Well, the answer is not in favour of the false narratives. Let us thus decode the reality behind the mediation mask of Pakistan and burst the fake claims surrounding the pragmatic diplomatic playbook of India, that is embedded in the fundamental principle of strategic autonomy and securing national priorities.
Pakistan is a “copy paste” messenger and not a mediator
Pakistan is indifferent to the fact that there is a difference between a mediator and messenger. Islamabad has not brought both the warring sides i.e., US, Israel and Iran to the negotiating table and has not deliberated on a sound ceasefire by considering the geopolitical or economic concerns of all the stakeholders in order to yield lasting results and curb the geopolitical hiccups. Instead, Islamabad is just being a messenger to deliver the decisions and deeds of US President Donald Trump to the world.
The social media post of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has evidently exposed the fact that his country is a mere messenger and not a mediator. The post published by the Pakistan Prime Minister has the word “drafts” which illustrates that he is just copying and replicating the message sent from Washington DC. Thus, the Trump administration is literally dictating the terms of Pakistan who is apparently a mediator. The post by Shehbaz Sharif reflected that it was not a message but a pre-prepared template. It raises the question whether the US is imposing authoritarian actions on Pakistan and whether the latter is conceding to the former’s hegemonic ambitions in the name of being a mediator.
Pakistan: A fragile country is desperate for global branding
It is a known fact that Pakistan is a politically and economically disintegrated country. The inflation is soaring, forex reserves are depleting and the external debt is skyrocketing with mounting pressure from the lending countries. The state-sponsored terrorism policy of Pakistan is yet again a globally infamous fact. Thus, Islamabad desperately needs an international rebranding and reconciliation opportunity to cover its internal misdeeds.
Let us take the example of Pakistan’s foreign loan. Pakistan has taken loans from the USA, China, UAE and many other multilateral financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund(IMF). It is encountering mounting pressure from these countries to return the money borrowed. On the other hand, Pakistan’s forex reserves are dwindling in a trap. If Islamabad returns all the USD 3 billion taken from UAE, the forex reserves will deplete to dangerous levels and the country will go bankrupt.
At such a precarious situation, Islamabad desperately needs global financial help. Accepting to be a messenger for the US can be of a great deed to Pakistan in terms of gaining additional leverage from the IMF or can help to gain greater debt aid from the US. Geopolitically as well, Pakistan is in need of an international accreditation to conceal its terror motives. Islamabad aims to whitewash its illicit deeds and autocratic actions, by gaining the brand of being a mediator in a war that shook the gelopolitical landscape. Thus, with the title as the “mediator” is a geopolitical inevitability for Pakistan to gain global visibility and credibility.
Why the US pitched Pakistan to be its messenger
Predominantly the tasks such as mediation are accomplished by the European countries or the stakeholders from West Asia. However, in the US-Iran conflict, the majority of the countries in the region such as UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain are attacked by Iranian missiles and drones, disrupting their oil refineries and other strategic assets which were an economic lifeline. These countries which are severely affected by the war thus will not mediate as they are irked about the US, for destabilising the entire region by escalating an unprecedented regional conflict.
With respect to the European countries they are extremely antithetical to the policies of Trump. The US President has taken a sharp dig at the NATO alliance and has threatened to cut the funds and exit the military grouping. Trump also has threatened to annex Greenland. He has mocked European leaders. In turn, Europe has resisted against the US to use its military bases against Iran. On these lines, the relations between Europe and the Trump administration have experienced severe fissures. Europe thus will not accept to mediate between the US and Iran, given the loud and unpredictable nature of Trump’s foreign policies which is prone to sudden U-Turn.
Given such a fragmented alliance system across the geopolitical chessboard, the United States chose Pakistan as a superficial “mediator” upon which it can dictate its terms and conditions. Islamabad to fulfill its objectives, easily entails the demands of Washington DC. However, the role of Pakistan is a mere messenger to convey the strategic objectives of the US, but not a real mediator with a considerable diplomatic leverage. By having a conciliatory approach to Pakistan, the US aims to cook its goals against Iran. Using Islamabad as its base, Washington seeks to target Iran and gain regional geopolitical proximity across West Asia. Apparently, Pakistan is easily vulnerable to these fancy aspirations.
Sovereignty vs Servitude: The pragmatic diplomatic playbook of India
The above examples illustrate how the relationship between the United States and Pakistan works. Apparently, both countries align to fulfill respective hegemonic ambitions and reach personal goals across the geopolitical spectrum. The relationship operates in a very narrow strategic path, which ofcourse doesn’t align with the long-term strategic goals of India. On the other hand, this is not the maiden time that the United States has pitched Pakistan to fulfill its deeds. For a long time now, Pakistan has been the vassal state of the United States. Islamabad has been repeatedly used by Washington DC, as an instrument to pass messages, craft anticipated outcomes and to disrupt the landscape to navigate hegemonic ambitions. The latest role of being a “mediator” in the US-Iran war is yet another role as a tool of the US, where Pakistan is used as a fertile backyard to achieve the West Asian policies of the US.
Meanwhile, India is not such a subservient mediator. India’s foreign policy is not an instrument of other nations to dictate its terms. Instead, India’s foreign policy is rooted in strategic pragmatism, long-term vision and has adopted a diplomatic playbook that satisfies national interest. India’s foreign policy doesn’t fetch its strategic autonomy for the sake of global branding. In reality, being the world’s fourth largest economy, India doesn’t need any global branding at the mercy of external actors, unlike Pakistan. India gains its global credibility, with its balanced foreign policy approach, multilateral alignments, sound domestic policies and other developmental discourses.
India will not mediate a fragile ceasefire that oscillates based on the self-centred, loud and the volatile policies of Donald Trump. India’s strategic propositions are clearly defined by national priorities such as ensuring energy security through diversification strategy. India equally respects all stakeholders in the geopolitical landscape to fulfill nationalist goals. India aims at ensuring the safety of diaspora and addressing other humanitarian crises rather than running behind short-term gains and vouching for other countries to seek global recognition.
Thus, to claim India’s foreign policy as “failed” is an ideological misconception and historical illiteracy or ignorance that fails to understand how the relation between Washington and Islamabad works. India’s foreign policy is balanced, sound and sophisticated. The diplomatic playbook is driven by long-term national vision rather than short-term emotional impulses. Apparently, India need not do such geopolitical stunts as it is renowned for being a credible, reliable and trustworthy geopolitical player with solid strategic clarity, wisdom and autonomy.
