International Affairs Expert and Editor-in- Chief JK News Today
JK News Today Commentary
Ever since US President Donald Trump announced that his government was negotiating with Iran , the international media, and Indian analysts , too, seemed to be obsessed with Pakistan positioning as top mediator between Washington and Tehran . This obsession is according Pakistan more than life-size image as if this country alone can settle this alarming war. The bigger tragic conclusion is that Pakistan has been able to gain this position by marginalizing its arch-rival India.
There is no denying the fact that there has been a buzz over Pakistan having assumed the role of a mediator between the US and Iran to defuse West Asian crisis that is spawning un the region and beyond it .Pakistan conveyed 15-point peace plan to Iran and possibly, the response of Tehran to Washington . This happens in international relations ; there is exchange of notes and the there is a rhetoric of grandstanding . Nothing happens overnight .
The issue is that the ongoing war is a month -old and may continue for more days or weeks , but the underlined issue is far greater than the duration of the war so far and the devastation that it has caused in the region and shattered the very foundations of economy of some of the countries besides the huge military losses on all sides.
And it is also true that this war will not end on the battlefield , because there is no single battlefield. Iran and Israel – America are locked in war; so are Iran ad Gulf States , though the Gulf states have not retaliated to the Iranian attacks on their infrastructure, from airports to gas and oil fields . And the war is spreading creating fathomless reservoirs of human suffering that goes beyond the loss of thousands of lives and displacement of millions of others.
The war is spreading and creating reservoirs of prolonged human suffering and so far there has been no cost estimation of the reconstruction because the war is continuing.
Amidst all this , Pakistan’s name cropped up as mediator in the company of Turkiye and Egypt . The whole world was surprised over Islamabad , in. reality Pakistan ‘s military chief Field Marshall Asim Munir , playing mediator between the US and Iran.
The world has reasons to get surprised ; how could a nation unravelling from within on economic front and civil-war like situation in Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and itself engaged in an open war with Afghanistan, could become a peacemaker . This is baffling.
Some newspaper reports , including one in New York Times , ascribed Pakistan getting this role because of its longstanding deal making capacity, especially with the United States of America ,. It was reported that Pakistan and the inner circle of US President Donald Trump have struck a deal on Roosevelt hotel . These are some of the revelations .
But the question is far beyond that, will US trust Pakistan simply because it struck deal while its history dotted with playing to the tune of Washington ever since it came into being .The political and military leaders know how to flatter the US and draw concessions. Asim Munir is no exception . He was the one who had proposed Donald trump for Nobel Peace Prize after his lunch with the President at White House in June last year within weeks after Pakistan suffered its biggest defeat at the hands of India under Operation Sindoor.
Trump loves flattery , it’s given. But here there are geostrategic considerations too; Pakistan , because of it having the nuclear weapons , and its ties with Iran as a neighbor , has some influence in the Islamic world . It was for some reason that Saudi Arabia signed a mutual security pact with Pakistan on September 17, 2025 . The agreement “ Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement “- made the two countries to revitalize their strategic relationship . Though the actual term of the agreement has not come into play during the current Middle-East conflict, which is quite devastating in all senses of the word, yet its content is no less significant .The US administration might have taken this part into consideration, while choosing Pakistan as a reliable messenger to convey its peace plan to Iran . The way 15-point peace plan has been drafted , it appeared unilateral. Its content and tone were condescending . But to present such a draft to Iran in itself could be because Pakistan was going to do anything for Trump irrespective of the consequences , or it was convinced that it can do it .
Some of the analysts have read it as a move by the Trump administration to push India to margins vis-à-vis Pakistan . This is an absolute distortion . India and Pakistan cannot be compared I to each other in any manner . India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and its standing as the most populous and largest democracy in the world is a fact known to the world . India doesn’t have to play favourites to any of the nations, including the US , the military and economic superpower at the global stage . India knows what to do and why to do it.
The West Asia conflict has rattled the most of the world, concerns about the food security, supply chains, and energy security have the world worried . The nations are feeling impact. India too is faced with view high challenges . What effects the world, does effect India too. It cannot b that what affects the whole of the world would leave India untouched . The country has its stake all over the world. The ongoing Middle East conflict has seen disruption in its energy supplies and its impact is telling in various fields . The war has touched all parts and the people in the country .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows it and he has articulated it quite frankly . This is the time to think and develop capacity to withstand the situation . And he has invoked the spirit of team India to soften the impact or to pass through the crisis in a dignified manner. He has done well by not even remotely alluding to Pakistan .
The world leaders , including Trump, have been calling him and urging Prime Minister Modi to use his influence . In the whole trajectory Modi’s mantra of resoling issues through dialogue and diplomacy is resonating all over – the real meaning of it would be understood when war will end . War has to end, but the future should not be clogged in the wartime rhetoric . India has its place , and it will grow in stature more in the coming days.
