Report says Modi’s bid to isolate Pakistan has not succeeded

Islamabad: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long-running effort to diplomatically isolate Pakistan has not achieved its objective, with analysts believing Islamabad has instead strengthened its position with major powers and regional states.

The assessment comes nearly a decade after Modi publicly pledged to isolate Pakistan following a 2016 attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir that killed 18 Indian soldiers. Addressing a rally in Kerala at the time, he said India would step up efforts to leave Pakistan isolated internationally.

Modi had declared:

"We will make sure that you are isolated around the world."

Analysts now say Pakistan appears far from isolated. It described Pakistan as remaining a close strategic partner of China and said it has also re-emerged as a trusted partner of the United States under President Donald Trump. Over the past year, both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir met Trump at the White House, while Pakistan also played a central mediating role in efforts involving the United States and Iran.

Analysts linked this in part to Pakistan’s success in engaging Trump and using major geopolitical developments to position itself as an important diplomatic actor for both global and regional powers.

Conflict and international narrative

Pakistan-India relations have remained largely frozen in recent years, with diplomatic engagement stalled, while the two countries have also seen border skirmishes and a brief conflict last year.

During the 87-hour conflict in May 2025, Pakistan shot down eight Indian fighter jets — four French-made Rafale aircraft, one Su-30, one MiG-29, one Mirage 2000 and one expensive multi-role unmanned aerial system — in addition to dozens of drones. The fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbours ended on May 10 through a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.

India maintained that the ceasefire understanding resulted only from bilateral engagement, but Trump repeatedly said Washington had helped secure the truce and had prevented a potentially disastrous escalation between New Delhi and Islamabad. Trump also offered to work with both countries on a solution to the Kashmir dispute, which has shaped India-Pakistan relations since 1947.

Trump has since said more than 30 times that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He also said Indian fighter jets were shot down on the first day of the conflict, reflecting Pakistan’s account. Analysts said India’s reluctance to immediately respond to those claims strengthened international perceptions that Pakistan had gained an edge in the global narrative around the conflict.

Analysts believe India also did not succeed in persuading the world of Pakistan’s alleged role in the attack that triggered the May 2025 fighting. Modi’s refusal to credit Trump for the ceasefire strained ties between the United States and India, while Pakistan quickly acknowledged Trump’s role in the truce and even nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Regional diplomacy

Pakistan’s relations with Bangladesh have improved sharply since the removal of prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed. Pakistan’s longstanding strategic relationship with China was also highlighted during last year’s conflict, when Pakistan used Chinese missile defence systems and jets.

India has also altered its position on the Israel-Palestine issue, becoming Israel’s closest ally, its largest weapons buyer and increasingly abstaining from United Nations resolutions critical of Tel Aviv. Alignment under Modi complicated India’s standing with Gulf states at a time when Pakistan has deepened its security partnerships with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Amid Israel’s wars in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Iran, as well as its bombing of Qatar and Syria, Gulf countries have increasingly looked beyond their traditional dependence on a United States security umbrella.

Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defence pact with Pakistan in September 2025. Some reports suggested other Gulf countries and Turkiye might also consider joining the Saudi-Pakistan defence arrangement. Last May’s war strengthened Pakistan’s image as a credible security provider, with demand for Pakistani fighter jets rising afterward.