India Must Stop Letting the US Mediate While It Funds Pakistan, Says GTRI

The United States' interference, cloaked in the language of diplomacy and stability, in South Asia again came into sharp focus on Saturday after it claimed to broker an immediate ceasefire between India and Pakistan, which Islamabad breached in less than three hours. New Delhi-based trade policy think tank the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) noted that the US must be engaged on trade, technology and investment not on security alignment.

"The timeline of events—from India’s decisive missile strike on May 7 to the IMF’s swift bailout for Pakistan on May 9, followed by a US-brokered ceasefire on May 10—shows a clear pattern: Washington still views India and Pakistan through the outdated “hyphenated” lens," said the GTRI), in a new analysis.

The report also highlighted that US President Donald Trump, in a Truth Social post on May 10, praised the “strong and unwaveringly powerful leadership of India and Pakistan” without once mentioning terrorism. It said that despite Pakistan’s repeated attacks, the US chose to reward it with both diplomacy and dollars, which is an opportunistic mediation.

This came within 72 hours of India's decisive military action, Operation Sindoor, hitting nine terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK).

The analysis recommends that India must adopt a transactional foreign policy, guided by interests, not permanent alliances. It also emphasised that the engagement with the US should be focused on trade, technology, and investment, but New Delhi must draw firm lines on matters of national security.

"The U.S. must be engaged on trade, technology, and investment—but never given a blank cheque on security alignment. Are we going in wrong direction already?," the think tank noted.

It further argued that Washington sees Pakistan not as a liability but as a tactical tool—whether to counterbalance India, to serve its interests in Afghanistan, or to keep American arms sales flowing. China, meanwhile, props up Islamabad strategically. Pakistan’s survival, the GTRI contends, depends entirely on external indulgence. To counter these, India must operate with hard-nosed realism.

"The IMF payout was not a coincidence but a signal: global institutions will continue to shield Pakistan, no matter its conduct. India should stop expecting fairness and prepare for duplicity," GTRI underlined.

"Even if the West condemns terror, it enables Pakistan financially and diplomatically the moment tensions rise. This cannot be ignored. West takes terror seriously if it happens in its homeland," said Ajay Srivastava, founder at GTRI.

He also suggested that India must demand outcomes, not platitudes, while deepening regional coalitions, maintaining credible deterrence and using economic leverage—energy markets, defence spending and digital regulation—as bargaining chips.

"Emotional diplomacy is over. India, like China, must play chess, not cricket," added Srivastava.