The recent engagement between the US and Iran in Pakistan highlighted Islamabad's attempt to mediate a major geopolitical conflict. This positioning has drawn scrutiny, particularly from India, concerning the shifting dynamics in West Asia.

The quiet conclusion of US and Iranian backchannel engagements in Islamabad left more than diplomatic ambiguity. It crystallised a striking image: a financially strained, politically volatile Pakistan briefly positioning itself as a facilitator in one of the world’s most combustible rivalries. Substantive or symbolic, the episode underscores a deeper churn in West Asian geopolitics – one in which agility trumps credibility. Pakistan’s role was not incidental. Islamabad offered itself as a...