There is a deeply troubling arrogance settling over New Delhi these days. I realized just how toxic it has become when I listened to the Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar casually brush off Pakistan as a “broker country.” In the crude local parlance the ruling party loves to hint at, he was essentially calling Pakistan a dalal just because Islamabad is attempting to navigate peace in a highly volatile region.
I sat there trying to comprehend the sheer audacity of that statement. Since when did pulling the world back from the brink of total destruction become an act of a dalal?
Let us be completely honest and ask a question that the current Indian establishment will hate. Was Prime Minister Narendra Modi acting as a dalal when he was running from pillar to post, completely desperate to mediate between Russia and Ukraine? When Modi was taking flights to hug Vladimir Putin while giving empty sermons about how this is not the era of war, the Indian media worshipped him as a global savior. It was hailed as masterful statecraft. But the moment Pakistan exercises its diplomatic muscles to deescalate regional tensions, the language suddenly drops to the gutter.
The double standards are pathetic but they are also hiding a massive failure. Under the grip of an incompetent RSS and Hindutva obsessed leadership, Indian foreign policy has reached its most embarrassing juncture yet. The men running South Block want to pretend they are global heavyweights but let us look at the hard, uncomfortable details of the ongoing conflict involving the Middle East, Iran, and America.
What is the actual geopolitical value of India in this current conflict? It is absolutely zero.
Take a close look at the diplomatic flights and the closed door meetings happening over the last few weeks. Has a single Arab state or Gulf country bothered to reach out to India to resolve this crisis? None. They have completely bypassed New Delhi. Even Israel, a state the Hindutva ecosystem bends over backward to praise and support online, has not involved India in any serious strategic capacity to resolve this specific regional fallout. The United States and Iran are not looking toward New Delhi to establish backchannels. They are knocking on the doors in Islamabad.
And why would they not? The global powers are watching exactly what is unfolding and they recognize that Pakistan sits at the geographic and diplomatic center of this storm. They know Pakistan acts as a kingmaker in these dynamics and possesses the genuine leverage needed to end this bloody conflict. Pakistan is actually doing the hard, silent work of shuttle diplomacy to bring opposing sides to the table. Once the guns finally go silent, the entire international community will be forced to rank Pakistan right at the top as a major global peacemaker.
This reality is exactly what is driving the Indian External Affairs Ministry absolutely crazy. It is nothing but classic sour grapes. They simply cannot stomach the fact that Pakistan is accumulating massive diplomatic points while India sits totally marginalized. Because they cannot play the game, they have decided to throw mud from the sidelines to please their radicalized domestic audience.
What makes this language even richer is India attempting to seize the moral high ground while running one of the most destructive proxy wars in modern South Asian history. We have not forgotten the facts. New Delhi wants to point fingers about warmongering, but this is the exact same country that pumped millions into using Afghan soil to fund, train, and orchestrate terror inside Pakistan. Do the spin doctors in New Delhi really think the world has collective amnesia about Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav? An active duty Indian naval officer was caught red handed organizing terrorism and shedding blood inside Balochistan. A nation that actively exports instability and violence into its neighbor simply does not have the capacity, let alone the moral standing, to act as a credible mediator between powers like Iran and America.
Let us clear up the vocabulary for the Indian government once and for all. Putting your own reputation on the line to foster a dialogue for world peace is an act of supreme international responsibility. It is diplomacy at its highest level. It is certainly not dalali.
You want to know what true moral corruption looks like? Look at the western elites who dictate human rights to us while secretly dancing at Epstein Island. Those are the sick, transactional behaviors the world needs to condemn. Standing between warring armies to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians is a badge of honor.
Pakistan is putting in the actual work to save lives and prevent a regional catastrophe. All the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to know how to do is spew hateful rhetoric because they were left off the guest list. It is time they grow up and learn the difference.
‘Crypto diplomacy’ enters discourse as Pakistan engages US, Iran
