As I observe flurry of diplomatic activity emanating from New Delhi and Islamabad yet again, I can’t help but be struck by the sheer dissonance in their approaches, and now, by what I can only describe as a telling international rebuff to India’s core narrative. Both nations are out in the world, attempting to rally support after last month’s military tensions. Yet, it is India’s gargantuan diplomatic roadshow that I find particularly, and frankly, bewildering, especially when contrasted with what appears to me to be Pakistan’s more focused and, as recent events suggest, more effective engagement with international community.

Let’s be clear: Prime Minister Modi’s government in India, a government that I’ve always understood to be fiercely protective of its sovereignty, has dispatched a staggering seven delegations to thirty-three foreign capitals. I must ask, what is the strategic imperative of sending high-level envoys to places like Bogotá or Ljubljana in the context of an Indo-Pakistani dispute? To my mind, this smacks more of a global public relations onslaught, an attempt to saturate the international discourse with India’s narrative, rather than a genuine effort at nuanced diplomacy – a narrative, I might add, that seems to be losing........

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