Ottawa, July 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) Pakistan's recent mediation between the US and Iran reflects a strategy shaped by its own vulnerabilities, aimed at avoiding entanglement in a wider conflict. Amid Islamabad’s defence commitments to Saudi Arabia, the country sought to secure its 900-kilometre border with Iran, and rebuild an international image tarnished by years of isolation, a report has stated.
But the economic dividends from that role remain speculative. With the agreement now effectively collapsed, Islamabad's balancing act between the US, Iran and Saudi Arabia has become increasingly untenable, suggesting that this is “defensive diplomacy” rather than the projection of rising strategic power, according to a report in Canada-based 'Geopolitical Monitor'.
“The Islamabad talks in April ended without a breakthrough. Iran rejected Pakistan’s proposed frameworks and issued counter-demands within days. And while Pakistan contributed to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on June 17, the hardest issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme and long-term management of the Strait of Hormuz, remain unresolved. Pakistan secured a process, not a resolution. That fragility is already evident. The MOU has since effectively collapsed,” the report detailed.
US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire over on July 10 following a major exchange of strikes, with the US targeting Iranian sites and Iran retaliating against US military assets in the Gulf.
According to the report, Pakistan's role in brokering the April 2026 US-Iran ceasefire and hosting talks in Islamabad quickly fuelled a narrative of a diplomatic win over India, adding that the claims are flawed.
“India’s absence from the mediation table was not passivity. It was a deliberate choice, and one consistent with how a power of India’s size and ambition conducts itself in international politics. The real question is not why India didn’t mediate. It is whether India loses by not doing so,” it noted.
Emphasising India’s position as the world’s fifth-largest economy, a pivotal force in the Indo-Pacific security architecture, and a nation sought after by all major powers, the report argued that inserting itself as a conduit between Washington and Tehran would have been a “step down, not a step up”.
However, far from being a passive observer, India has used energy diplomacy, backchannel engagement, and its growing influence as one of the world’s largest importers to shape developments behind the scenes. These efforts may not make headlines, but they carry considerable weight, the report mentioned.
“The Iran war has produced an optical illusion: Pakistan looks active and therefore winning; India looks passive and therefore losing. But foreign policy is not decided by appearances. When the region rebuilds its economic relationships, the question of who can offer trade, investment, connectivity, and technology will determine lasting influence. On every one of those metrics, India’s position far exceeds Pakistan’s,” it asserted.
Source: IANS
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