Pakistan's Permanent Freefall: Why Neighbourly Trust Remains Impossible

Deceit, duplicity, and an astonishing lack of diplomatic civility have become inseparable from Pakistan's state behaviour. These patterns are not matters of opinion -- they are recurring facts, reinforced by the actions of its military establishment, its political elite, and, increasingly, even its citizens.

Equally troubling, however, is the persistent section within India that continues to advocate friendship with a neighbour that has repeatedly demonstrated volatility and hostility.

Voices like Mani Shankar Aiyar, Farooq Abdullah, and others seem permanently committed to romanticising a relationship that has, for decades, delivered India nothing but treachery and violence. Their vision of brotherhood remains intact even after Pakistan-backed terror routinely strikes Indian soil.

If these self-styled advocates of peace were truly interested in reality, they would pay attention to how the very Muslim nations treat Pakistan, which it often cites as its natural allies.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has effectively imposed a freeze on regular visa issuance for Pakistani nationals, including tourist, visit, and many categories of work visas.

The reason is simple: rising cases of visa misuse, overstays, organised begging, and criminal activities. Saudi Arabia, too, has been treading a cautious path, sending back Pakistanis caught begging. These are not decisions driven by ideology. They are responses to repeated patterns of misconduct. These countries, despite being Muslim, prioritise their national security and refuse to compromise with behaviour that undermines their domestic order.

Even in the digital sphere, Pakistan's appetite for subversion seems endless. The recent update by social media platform X, which displays country labels based on device location and app-store settings, inadvertently exposed a massive network of Pakistani accounts impersonating Indian users. These accounts used Hindu names, wrote in Hindi, and immersed themselves in Indian political and religious debates -- all while operating from Pakistan or West Asia.

The update confirmed what India has long known: a coordinated strategy to distort public discourse, plant false narratives, and inflame divisions within Indian society by masking the true origin of propaganda.

This is not new behaviour; it fits a long and troubling pattern. This is the same duplicity that marked some of the gravest betrayals in the subcontinent's diplomatic history. Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who displayed unparalleled courage in his pursuit of peace with Pakistan, experienced this betrayal firsthand. Even as he extended a hand of reconciliation through the Lahore process in February 1999, the Pakistani establishment orchestrated the Kargil intrusion in May 1999.

Vajpayee remarked in the Lok Sabha on May 9, 2003, "You can change your friends, but not your neighbours." The statement captures a painful truth: India is stuck with Pakistan because of geography -- not preference. But geography does not compel India to tolerate perfidy. If neighbours cannot be chosen, they can certainly be restrained.

This is precisely what the current Indian government has sought to do: establish deterrence, break the cycle of indulgence, and impose consequences for Islamabad's actions.

The list of Pakistan-linked terror attacks is long and bloody. And after 2014, it has been Pathankot (2016), Uri (2016), the Amarnath Yatra attack (2017), the Pulwama suicide bombing (2019), the Reasi bus attack (2024), Pahalgam (April 22, 2025), and the Delhi car blast (November 11, 2025) -- all bear the fingerprints of groups nurtured, sponsored, and shielded by Pakistan's security establishment. These come in addition to countless smaller attacks, encounters, and infiltration attempts in Jammu & Kashmir that continue without pause.

India's response over the past decade has shifted from one of restraint to calculated and firm measures -- including surgical strikes, Operation Sindoor, diplomatic isolation, suspension of trade, and invoking provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty. New Delhi's message is clear: "Blood and water cannot flow together." The statement, made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, indicates that India will no longer tolerate terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

Yet Pakistan appears determined to demonstrate that it has no interest in reforming its behaviour. Embarrassments continue across sectors -- from diplomacy to sports. The recent episode involving the Asia Cup trophy, where a Pakistani minister carried it home and has yet to return it to the rightful champions, the Indian cricket team, is a microcosm of Pakistan's institutional dysfunction. It is a nation unable to uphold even basic norms of sportsmanship, let alone international responsibility.

The tragedy is not merely Pakistan's conduct; it is the predictability of its conduct. The country oscillates between economic collapse, political chaos, and military interference, yet its establishment clings to the delusion of parity with India.

While India advances geopolitically and economically, Pakistan remains trapped in a loop of denial, conspiracy, and hostility. It started with Jinnah, then Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Zulfikar Bhutto, Zia-ul-Haq, Parvez Musharraf and now the latest is Lieutenant General Asim Munir, who seems to be aiming for the ultimate leadership of his country. His intentions were very much revealed in the April 22 Pahalgam attack and his conduct afterwards.

India cannot fix Pakistan. That responsibility lies solely with Pakistan's leadership and its people. For now, the most prudent approach is only one of vigilance and deterrence.

(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)

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- IANS