Islamabad has been praised for mediating the conflict between Iran and the US, but with an ongoing war with Kabul and a crackdown on the opposition at home, it needs to do some serious work to improve its stock.
https://p.dw.com/p/5C6FDPakistan maintains close ties with both Iran and the USImage: Office of the Iranian Parliament Speaker/WANA/REUTERSAdvertisementAlthough the high-stakes US-Iran talks in Islamabad on April 11-12 failed to deliver a peace deal, Pakistan's proactive role in mediating a global conflict was much appreciated internationally.
Not only did the Iranian delegation thank Islamabad for facilitating the talks, but US President Donald Trump also lauded Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir for their efforts.
"They are very extraordinary men and continuously thank me for saving 30 to 50 million lives in what would have been a horrendous war with India," Trump said in a post on social media.
For the moment, the negotiations between Iran and the US are stalled, but there is still a chance that they could be revived in the coming days before the ceasefire deadline on April 22.
"The simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon," Vice President JD Vance, who was heading the US delegation, told reporters in Islamabad on Sunday.
Some political experts are of the view that to be considered a genuine peacemaker, Islamabad needs to improve ties with some of its neighboring countries, particularly Afghanistan, with which it says it is in an "open war," and India, its longtime rival with whom it engaged in a brief but deadly war in May last year.
Peace talks between the US and Iran collapseTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
"Ironically, while Pakistan was playing the role of a peacemaker internationally, China hosted a week-long round of talks between Kabul and Islamabad to end ongoing hostilities between the two," Farooq Sulehria, a Pakistani political analyst, told DW.
Ties between the Taliban rulers in Kabul and Islamabad have deteriorated since the Islamist group seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led international troops from the war-torn country. Since last year, Kabul and Islamabad have been engaged in a direct war with the Pakistani air force, which is targeting what it describes as "militant hideouts" inside Afghanistan.
Ties with India remain fraught after the May 2025 military escalation over the Pahalgam attacks in India-administered Kashmir.
"This shows that Pakistan is not a peacemaker either by ideology or by necessity. The ideological basis of the Pakistani state rests on India's animosity. The current tension with Kabul is partly an extension of this India-centric approach as the Taliban regime is cozying up to New Delhi, making Islamabad furious. Hence, there is a contradiction in Pakistan's role as a global peacemaker," Sulehria underlined.
But Fatemeh Aman, an Iran-Pakistan expert and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, argues that although Pakistan's role in negotiating the US-Iran conflict and its hostile ties with Kabul and New Delhi might appear like a dichotomy, it is in reality "different responses to different pressures."
"While the mediation in US–Iran tension creates diplomatic space, managing Afghanistan is about stability. This approach reflects constraint, not a double standard. Pakistan wants regional relevance but faces problems it cannot easily solve," she told DW.
Taliban blame Pakistan for deadly Kabul drug facility hit To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
"This situation is not as contradictory as it seems. Pakistan is handling two different realities. Its ties with Iran and the US are about diplomacy and staying relevant with low risk. Afghanistan, however, is an immediate security concern involving militancy, border instability, and internal pressure. So, it's less a contradiction and more a two-level approach: influence abroad, control at home," Aman stressed.
Political analyst Raza Rumi agrees: "Islamabad's engagement with the US-Iran situation and its tensions with Afghanistan operate in different contexts. The former is low-risk diplomacy where Pakistan can play a facilitating role; the latter is an immediate security challenge shaped by militancy and border instability. This approach reflects necessity and opportunity in one case, and proximity and vulnerability in the other," Rumi told DW.
He said that what appeared to be a dichotomy was actually the result of different policy imperatives, explaining that states adapt their policies based on geography, threats, and leverage. He added that Pakistan could engage diplomatically in the US-Iran space without direct risk, whereas Afghanistan involved active security concerns and therefore required a different approach.
Experts also point to the Pakistani government's crackdown on Former PM Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party at home and the military operations against militants in western Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Pakistan: 'Security state' on the rise amid regional tensionTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Resolving domestic conflicts could boost the government's image as an entity that prefers dialogue over force, they say.
"Peace and reconciliation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces are imperative," Sulehria said. "A functioning democracy is vital for Pakistan to brand itself as a global peacemaker. Such a change, however, is highly unlikely under the present dispensation," he added.
The analyst also criticizes the imprisonment of Khan, calling it "anti-democratic."
"Foreign policy mirrors domestic politics," he underlined.
Rumi believes Pakistan faces "structural constraints" in dealing with complex issues, adding that Islamabad's actions are "shaped less by choice and more by the limits of its strategic environment."
Additional reporting by Haroon Janjua, DW reporter in Islamabad.
