Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Pakistan remains at the center of U.S.-Iran mediation, 9 million people are struck from voter rolls shortly before elections in West Bengal, and India’s finance minister skips the International Monetary Fund-World Bank spring meetings.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: Pakistan remains at the center of U.S.-Iran mediation, 9 million people are struck from voter rolls shortly before elections in West Bengal, and India’s finance minister skips the International Monetary Fund-World Bank spring meetings.

What Next for Pakistan?

U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad over the weekend didn’t lead to an immediate deal, but they still resulted in a string of victories for the host, Pakistan.

One is vindication. Critics doubted that Pakistan had the capacity to mediate, yet it succeeded in leading talks with senior U.S. and Iranian officials—the highest-level face-to-face negotiations between the two sides in decades. They reportedly came close to succeeding. Pakistan also played a role in advocating for Vice President J.D. Vance to lead the U.S. delegation.

Pakistan also gained a major reputational boost. The country doesn’t have a positive global image, mainly because of its long-standing problems with terrorism, and it has long struggled to attract foreign investors and tourists. But in this case, it was in the headlines for positive reasons, and journalists around the world converged on Islamabad.

Furthermore, Pakistan has bolstered its strategic interests by showcasing its clout in the Middle East—arguably the region that is most important for its interests, given its many allies and extensive trade and energy equities there.

The lack of a deal so far is a setback for Pakistan, which really wants the Iran war to end, given its proximity to the conflict and the several million Pakistani expatriates living in the Middle East. Across Pakistan, from within the policy community to the wider public, hopes were high that a deal would be struck over........

© Foreign Policy