Caravan India’s Consulting Editor Sushant Singh writes a piece in Foreign Policy which pushes a one-sided narrative glorifying Pakistan’s mediation in the Iran-US conflict while ignoring its heavy domestic costs and diplomatic dead-ends. This selective framing, amid evidence of Pakistan suffering casualties from pro-Iran unrest and failed cease-fire pushes, smacks of bad-faith advocacy for Islamabad at India’s expense.
As Modi remains tethered to the domestic narrative of aspiring to global leadership, he is being bypassed in the real corridors of power. Pakistan has topped India by manufacturing diplomatic relevance despite risks of failure.
I write in @ForeignPolicy https://t.co/4hxmSrm7cT
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) April 3, 2026
Article’s Core Bias
Singh portrays Pakistan as a diplomatic wunderkind, hosting March 29 talks with Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, relaying messages via Army chief Asim Munir, and echoing its 1971 China role, while deeming it a “humiliating failure” for Modi’s isolation strategy. He dismisses risks like overpromising, economic fragility, and exposure to blame, even as Iran just rejected US demands via Pakistani channels as “unacceptable,” stalling efforts. This ignores how Pakistan’s “relevance” is tactical theater for Trump, not structural power, and overlooks its internal blows from the war.
Omitted Pakistani Setbacks
Pro-Iran protests in Pakistan killed at least 25, with violence in Karachi targeting US sites, hardly a “basket-case to peace broker” glow-up Singh peddles. Screenshots show mediators’ Islamabad push hitting a “dead end” as Iran snubs US talks, undercutting claims of Pakistan’s “indispensable” rise. Singh’s piece, dated April 3, pretends momentum persists despite these realities, cherry-picking to bash India.
Imagine doing this blatant propaganda while Pakistanis are literally getting kicked in their ass.
These people are bad faith actors @MEAIndia @sjaishankaroffc @AmitShah
Please take action. https://t.co/AJRyDRn1ah pic.twitter.com/kSRRl6K5HP
— Viktor (@desishitposterr) April 3, 2026
Singh’s Questionable Credibility
As Caravan consulting editor and Yale lecturer, Singh has a track record of Modi-critical takes, but this op-ed veers into hagiography for Munir and Sharif, framing India’s marginal role (backing US-Israel, phone pleas for Hormuz passage) as self-inflicted while laundering Pakistan’s vulnerabilities as strengths. Such Western-outlet pieces are just anti-national spin; Singh’s silence on Pakistan’s protest deaths and mediation flops fits a pattern of bad-faith “analysis” that elevates a failing state over India’s strategic restraint.
By analogizing to 1971 sans context of today’s stalled talks and Pakistan’s risks (Saudi pact tensions, Baloch issues), Singh manufactures “outrage” for Modi while Pakistan “gets whacked” domestically. This is advocacy disguised as insight, pushing Pakistani exceptionalism to Indian readers amid their neighbor’s real pain.
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