India is not interested in playing “dalali” or broker.
The war in Iran, which pits the Arab country against a combined force of the US and Israel, has created strange bedfellows.
Pakistan, for instance, is playing the go-between in peace negotiations geared towards ending the war. This would ordinarily be a very unlikely scenario, considering that the relationship between the US and Pakistan is not always rosy.
From the US imposing sanctions on Pakistan over its nuclear program in the 1990s to the US having to smoke out Osama bin Laden from Pakistan in 2011, there have been enough reasons for the two countries not to trust each other.
Calculated Move by Pakistan to Position Itself
Pakistan has often been overshadowed by its more populous neighbor, India, on the world stage. Therefore, analysts see Pakistan’s offer to broker peace talks in the Iran war as an attempt to shine a global light on itself – probably to outshine India for once.
As for its relationship with Iran, it has mostly been one of respect. Their bilateral trade is significant, with Pakistan buying oil and gas from Iran while selling agricultural products to Iran.
Is India Threatened?
The government of India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has faced backlash from the opposition, especially the Congress Party, for not stepping forward to act as a peace broker before Pakistan did. However, the government finds that role inconsequential, even casting doubt on its potential effectiveness.
India’s Minister for External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, recently dismissed the mediatory role Pakistan is playing, terming it one of a “dalali” (broker).
The US values its relationship with India, especially because the Asian country is geographically surrounded by direct and indirect US adversaries. Hence, India remains an important US strategic partner.
India’s neighbors that often make the US uncomfortable include China, Myanmar, and even Pakistan, and Iran is also not too far away. This is probably one reason India does not find the need to seek out US attention.