Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: India and Pakistan send delegations to the United States as part of a diplomatic blitz in the wake of their conflict last month, Nepal’s pro-monarchy movement presents a growing challenge to the government in Kathmandu, and Canada may not extend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi his usual invite to the G-7 leaders’ summit.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: India and Pakistan send delegations to the United States as part of a diplomatic blitz in the wake of their conflict last month, Nepal’s pro-monarchy movement presents a growing challenge to the government in Kathmandu, and Canada may not extend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi his usual invite to the G-7 leaders’ summit.

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This week, delegations from India and Pakistan are in the United States to seek support for their governments’ positions in the wake of their military conflict last month. Both governments have invested significant resources in the effort, which involves senior politicians and distinguished former diplomats.

India’s contingent, led by prominent opposition politician Shashi Tharoor, is emphasizing terrorism and Pakistan’s links to it. The Pakistani group, headed by former Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, is projecting Pakistan as an innocent and peaceful actor and India as an aggressor.

The opposing delegations are participating in a veritable diplomatic road show, stopping in multiple countries. Yet it’s worth asking why India and Pakistan feel the need to wage this battle of narratives at all. The conflict ended more than three weeks ago, and the diplomatic offensive takes policy bandwidth away from pressing matters at home, including economic stress.

It’s an especially apt question for India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is proud, nationalistic, and adamant about not wanting international involvement in India’s bilateral disputes. But it has dispatched seven delegations to 33 foreign capitals—including places such as Bogotá and Ljubljana that don’t appear to have significant stakes in India-Pakistan relations.

By contrast, Pakistan—which is sending two delegations to five capitals—has long courted international involvement and mediation, especially on the issue of Kashmir.

Each government has strong motivations to carry out a diplomatic blitz in this case. A key target audience is the one back home, and both India and Pakistan will seek domestic political gains. The government in Islamabad, which isn’t very popular, can amplify its message of Pakistani innocence and Indian aggression by taking it abroad.

Modi’s government, which enjoys ample popularity, can further bolster support at home by projecting its efforts as multipartisan: The members of India’s delegation are........

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