The simple answer to this question is: 'a pliant Pakistan'. Trying to establish itself as a hegemon of sorts, India wants a plaint neighbourhood. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is dead, and thanks to India's coercive diplomacy, New Delhi has complicated relations with almost all neighbours except a pliant Bhutan.

Indian policy of 'hedging', its presumed aspiration of 'strategic autonomy', its emphasis on a multipolar Asia and multipolar world, and Delhi championing the cause of Global South is under stress by the very same American Administration that once basked in the glory of cadence like ... 'Howde Modi' in Texas. After repeated snubs form an egotistic Trump, Modi's New Delhi may lay down its redlines of not conceding to the US pressure on buying Russian oil, allowing US agricultural products, dithering on trade negotiations and accepting no mediation in the Indo-Pak context; the fact remains that the shine from the 'shining India' is beginning to peel off. Indian foreign policy once again is in wilderness. We shall discuss the SCO meet-up between Modi, Putin and Xi next week.

So, in its yearning for a plaint Pakistan, India needs to ask itself: Is a pliant Pakistan possible? Can Islamabad structurally support subservience to New Delhi? Will Pakistan's stakeholders ever acquiesce and support Indian dominance and hegemony? The answers to these questions, and many more on these lines, is a robust 'No'. Because such a possibility will erode the raison de etre of Pakistan, its existence and its foundations.

First, without going into the lessons of history, Afghan and Central Asian Muslim dynasties ruled India for........

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