The two reached a ceasefire after the four-day armed conflict. Pakistan publicly credited US President Donald Trump for helping broker a ceasefire – something he continues to include in the many wars he claims to have ended and for which Pakistan formally nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize last year. India has repeatedly said that there was no US mediation involved in the truce.
Pakistan has continued to make its diplomatic mark. In May 2025, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir – elevated to the rank of Field Marshall after Operation Sindoor – was feted in the White House, souring rosy notions of US-India strategic convergence and setting back New Delhi’s diplomatic offensive. It deepened long-standing ties with China and signed a mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia.
INDIA’S ZERO-SUM MENTALITY
These developments have rankled in India, where, especially since the summer of 2025, strident nationalist propaganda fanned by both news and entertainment media has visibly deepened animosity to Pakistan.
This has created a zero-sum mentality. Even on the cricket field the teams now do not shake hands as has been customary in the sport for generations.
The Indian response to Pakistan hosting US-Iran talks ranged from dismissive to derisive. When the subject came up at a meeting of political parties, India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar reportedly said: “We don’t run around asking countries what kind of dalali we can do,” using a somewhat contemptuous Hindi term for a middleman or broker.
Jairam Ramesh, communications chief of the opposition Indian National Congress, hit back, accusing the Narendra Modi government of “colossal failures in our diplomacy, outreach and narrative management”.