Mar 26, 2026 16:31 pm IST

Opinion | 2 Big Reasons Pak Is So Desperate To 'Mediate' Between US-Iran

A recent report revealed that Asim Munir had reached out to Trump, proposing Pakistan as the "venue" for talks, at about the same time that the 'five-day' pause was announced.

Tara Kartha Tara Kartha Columnist

Tara Kartha Columnist

It seems nothing can stop Pakistan's power play even as it battles Afghanistan and multiple internal crises. The news that Washington routed the 'peace' deal via Islamabad has most Pakistanis themselves puzzled, and not a little apprehensive. After all, the ebullient Trump may change his mind at any minute, and trifling with Iran, or even reaching out to it, is fraught with danger. 

But what is clear is that Pakistan is certainly reaching out, and that too publicly. If this succeeds, the key actors will claim a victory in the region and in the Muslim world. In fact, it may be anything but. 

That's the stuff of details.

Too Many People Talking

First, the facts as reported. The Financial Times reported that Field Marshal Asim Munir had reached out to Trump proposing Pakistan as the "venue" for talks. This was on March 23, at about the same time that Trump announced the ‘five-day' pause. These two events may not be directly connected, since a number of countries, including Turkey, Egypt, not to mention Russia, have been pressing Washington to end the war. However, none is very keen to get directly involved. Turkey, for instance, has its own Shia population that might get restive if talks are held on its territory. In short, Pakistan may well be the fall guy.

At the same time, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif was talking to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Not surprisingly, the Chinese also reached out to persuade Iran to pitch for peace. On March 25, the Prime Minister was briefing the Saudis, while Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, was talking again to his counterparts in Turkey, also reaching out to Iraq recently in an effort to get the Ummah united to end the war. 

That's a lot of people talking almost at the same time. The big takeaway for the political leadership was, however, that President Trump 'reposted' Shehbaz Sharif's tweet welcoming and supporting 'ongoing' efforts to end the war. That was when Tehran denied that there was anything at all in the pipeline. But........

© NDTV