It has been over seven decades, and India is still in search of a methodology on how to handle Pakistan. Wars and the dismemberment of its western neighbour have failed to produce a compliant counterpart capable of assisting in India's progress without posing existential threats. India's fivefold advantage in nearly every measurable domain, its rising and shining economy, along with advancements in science and technology, has proven inconsequential. Constant surveillance through intelligence networks, interference in Pakistan's affairs via proxies, and leveraging vulnerable segments of Pakistani society have neither broken Pakistan nor destabilised it. Using its diplomatic prowess in international fora to prove Pakistan's alleged interference in its internal affairs has only exposed India's own designs, as evidenced by the EU DisinfoLab investigation and the Five Eyes report.

The stated objective of isolating Pakistan from the comity of nations, whatever the motive, has backfired too. In this process, India has faced disproportionate tariffs imposed on its trade and military setbacks against its primary regional rivals. Eyebrows once raised over India's treatment of minorities have now turned into grave concerns, with the United States seriously considering declaring India a ‘country of particular concern.’ Meanwhile, a cash-strapped Pakistan, far from being isolated or sidelined, has positioned itself at the centre of the world stage as the sole reliable facilitator working to bring the world back from the brink of a potential nuclear war. After the Marqa-e-Haq, the real threat Pakistan faces........

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