IN May last year, Pakistan defeated India in military terms. A year later, Pakistan has defeated India fair and square in the diplomatic arena. Across the Gulf and in capitals across the globe, Islamabad’s voice has carried due authority in recent months. In contrast, India has found itself being scarcely noticed, if at all, as a responsible actor.

Through patient persuasion directed at the Gulf states and the United States alike, Islamabad has helped open channels of dialogue, and played a central role in halting the drift towards a wider conflict. While Pakistan laboured to extinguish flames, India appeared content to watch them spread, consumed by its own jealousy and resentment. Throughout these tur-bulent weeks, India’s questionable align-ments became increasingly visible.

In such a climate, India’s attempts to insert itself into Gulf affairs met with little welcome. Pakistani diplomacy, rooted in conciliation rather than confrontation, ensured that doors remained closed to New Delhi’s overtures. When Israel found its hand pressed by Iranian resilience, it turned to its established ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). India, excluded from the broader game, sought to deepen those connections through Israeli cooperation, positioning itself as an indirect sympathiser of both the states. Israel, alongside India, has worked to widen differences among the Gulf countries, clearly trying to shatter the unity of the Muslim world. Pakistani observers have kept an eye on these manoeuvres with due vigilance.

India may yet attempt further mischief by seeking to seduce the UAE into sending Pakistanis living there back, offering in return to dispatch Indian skilled workers to fill the gap. Such designs, however, shall not succeed. Pakistan has maintained open and cordial contact with every concerned nation. The Gulf states, in turn, have repeatedly expressed their genuine appreciation of Islamabad’s peace efforts in the region. Pakistan’s conduct has stood in honourable contrast to India’s tactics that have been both insidious and false. At every stage, Pakistan has worked to dampen the fires of war, while India, guided by narrow self-interest, has striven only to feed them.

History itself testifies to the depth of Pakistan’s commitment to the UAE. In the 1970s, it was Pakistani diplomacy and support that had helped bring the separate emirates together into a single, stable federation. Pakistani expertise and labour contributed substantially to the remarkable development that followed. Those bonds remain strong and multi-faceted. Today, as India pursues policies of division and mischief, Pakistan stands ready once more to counter them with the instruments of diplomacy and goodwill. The leadership in Islamabad possesses both the vision and the capacity for such work.

The recent crises have illuminated a clear distinction. Pakistan has shown itself a force for stability, a nation willing to invest its prestige in the cause of peace. India, in contrast, has appeared driven by grievance and opportunism. As the dust settles across the Gulf and beyond, the international community would do well to reflect upon which country truly served the interests of regional harmony.

Pakistan’s conduct has earned it respect; its future course, guided by the very same principles, promises to reinforce that standing. In a fractured world, such consistency remains both rare and precious.

Muhammad Mohsin Iqbal
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2026