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India bristles as Pakistan has its diplomatic moment

Apr 22, 2026, 6:24pm EDT
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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, along with Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of Pakistan Asim Munir, reviews the parade at the passing out ceremony of 151st Long Course at the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul, Abbottabad
Press Information Department (PID)/Handout via Reuters

Indian political elites are discomforted by regional rival Pakistan’s outsized role in US-Iran peace talks, but there are some bright spots for New Delhi, analysts argued.

While India’s prime minister has sought to portray himself as a global leader, the Iran crisis suggests India “remains stuck as a middle power,” The Atlantic argued.

The situation is a consequence of New Delhi’s foreign policy approach, an expert wrote in War on the Rocks: “India has built relationships everywhere and obligations nowhere.”

Still, an Iran ceasefire, even one brokered by Pakistan, would be in India’s best economic and strategic interests, another argued.

And “India is still the story” when it comes to global business, Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer said at Semafor World Economy.

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