In a world that constantly teeters between diplomacy and disaster, it is a disquieting truth that the most powerful office on the planet is held by a man for whom consistency is alien, and responsibility is optional. Donald Trump, who has managed to shape global conversations with the tap of a phone screen, continues to project the United States not as a global leader with moral clarity, but as a spectacle of contradiction. In the delicate theatre of South Asian geopolitics, where stakes are dangerously high, his erratic style is not just embarrassing—it is perilous. Nowhere has this been more troubling than during periods of high tension between Pakistan and India. These are not playground squabbles between rival neighbors. These are flashpoints between two nuclear-armed nations with long, bitter histories and blood-soaked borders.
During one such episode of escalated hostilities, an Indian strike inside Pakistani territory claimed civilian lives, including children. While Pakistan’s narrative was met with widespread concern in parts of the world, the response from Washington—especially from its top brass—was callously muted. When the then US Vice President was pressed by CNN to comment on India’s aggression and the resultant civilian casualties, her response was so devoid of empathy, so tone-deaf to the gravity of the situation, that even the journalist conducting the interview paused in disbelief. There was no mention of restraint. No call for inquiry. No diplomatic nuance. Just a shrug dressed as a statement. In moments where words matter and global powers are expected to act as steadying forces, such nonchalance betrays not just incompetence but a deeply troubling indifference to human life and regional peace.
And yet, this should not have come as a surprise. Trump’s presidency has been one long exercise in dismantling the norms of diplomacy. He has reduced the weight of foreign policy to social media whims, delivering pronouncements from behind a screen rather than a podium. With each unpredictable tweet—now shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter—he turns serious geopolitical issues into a series of one-liners and innuendos. The effect is not just unprofessional. It is destabilizing. It is not the first time his reckless communication style has embarrassed the country he represents. His treatment of Ukraine’s leadership early in his presidency—where he sought to pressure a foreign ally for political favors while dangling aid money like a carrot—was not just a breach of diplomatic conduct but a deeply corrosive act against the very foundations of mutual respect between nations.
What Trump seems unable, or unwilling, to grasp is that diplomacy is not theatre. It is not a campaign rally. And it certainly is not a social media duel. South Asia, with its deeply entangled history, religious fault lines, and nuclear realities, cannot afford to be managed through performance politics. The slightest misstep—be it a careless remark, an unsanctioned provocation, or a failure to rein in aggression—can lead to consequences far beyond the control of those who sparked them. It is not hyperbole to say that if a conflict were to erupt between Pakistan and India, the entire world would feel the tremors. This is why global powers, particularly the United States, must choose responsibility over partisanship. They must encourage, if not demand, serious dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi. Dialogue rooted not in the illusion of neutrality but in the pursuit of fairness.
Pretending to play peacemaker while tacitly backing one side serves no one. It only feeds distrust and ensures that the road to peace remains closed. It is here that the question of Kashmir looms large. For decades, the region has existed in limbo—caught between political ambitions and the silenced voices of its own people. The promise of a plebiscite, enshrined in United Nations resolutions, has become a ghost haunting every summit and every skirmish. And yet the people of Kashmir continue to be denied the right to determine their own destiny. India’s actions in Kashmir—particularly the revocation of Article 370 and the communications blackout that followed—have raised serious questions about its commitment to democratic values.
When nations like the United States choose silence over scrutiny in response to such actions, they are not just turning their backs on international law—they are actively undermining it. Even treaties that once symbolized shared commitments are now being treated as disposable. Take the Indus Waters Treaty, a cornerstone of Indo-Pak cooperation brokered with World Bank support and held intact since 1960. India’s claim to have “temporarily suspended” the treaty is both diplomatically weak and legally unsound. There is no provision within the treaty that permits unilateral suspension. It either exists in full or it doesn’t. Anything in between is an invention—one with the potential to disrupt water security in a region already facing climate stress.
At a time when the world faces existential challenges—climate change, poverty, extremism—the last thing we need is a destabilized South Asia. What the region needs is clear-eyed diplomacy and a moral spine. It needs leaders who understand that peace is not a side project but the main event. And it needs allies who are willing to hold each side to the same standard, no matter the strength of their bilateral trade or the flash of photo ops. There is no room here for silence dressed as diplomacy, for tweets masquerading as policy, or for leaders more concerned with applause than outcomes. The path to lasting peace in South Asia does not run through bluster and brinkmanship. It runs through empathy, restraint, and above all, the unwavering belief that the lives of ordinary people matter more than the vanity of politicians. The world must listen. And the United States, if it still wishes to lead, must learn to speak with purpose once again.
