India’s reservations over the trilateral meeting held in Kunming, China on 19 June—comprising Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary Imran A. Siddiqui, and Bangladesh’s Acting Foreign Secretary Rahul Siddiqui—are a recent indication of New Delhi’s growing sense of insecurity and isolation. Reacting to the trilateral meeting, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Randhir Jaiswal stated, “We maintain a constant watch on the developments in our neighbourhood that have a bearing on our interest and national security.” However, the trilateral meeting’s communiqué made it clear that it “was not targeting any third party.”

The back-to-back setbacks suffered by India after the Pahalgam episode reflect how the international community rejected the Indian narrative about Pakistan’s alleged involvement in terrorism and refused to side with New Delhi. The election of Pakistan as Vice-Chairman of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee, the growing U.S. tilt towards Pakistan following Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir’s visit to the White House, the refusal of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to include India’s version of events in the joint communiqué at the Qingdao meeting, Iran’s praise of Pakistan’s role in its conflict with Israel, and the low-key role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 Summit in Canada, all point to a major dent in India’s regional and global power ambitions. Furthermore, the decision by the international tribunal at The Hague to reject India’s unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) represents a major legal and diplomatic setback for New Delhi.

In the aftermath of the 2016 Uri terrorist attack in Indian-held Jammu & Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to isolate Pakistan in the region and globally. That effort initially gained momentum when Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India refused to attend the 19th SAARC Summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November 2016. Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list, and India’s narrative regarding Islamabad’s alleged involvement in terrorism found partial international acceptance. But, nearly nine years later, it is India that now faces isolation—despite its status as the world’s fifth-largest economy and its supposed clout in global capitals. A........

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