For decades, the corridors of power in New Delhi have echoed with a singular, repetitive mantra: the Shimla Agreement. Like a worn-out record, Indian diplomacy has shielded itself behind the claim that every spark and every fire in South Asia must be addressed strictly through bilateral means. However, the events following the May 2025 India-Pakistan standoff have finally torn the veil off this narrative. Today, New Delhi finds itself in a peculiar and embarrassing predicament-simultaneously contradicting the world’s two greatest superpowers to maintain a domestic myth of “absolute self-reliance.”

The ground reality, as we often say, is that the ceasefire of 2025 was not a miracle of spontaneous DGMO-level dialogue. It was a carefully orchestrated diplomatic intervention. Yet, New Delhi continues to insist that it acted alone, a stance that has now backfired spectacularly on the international stage.

In Washington, the narrative is not just different but loud and frequent. Since May 2025, President Donald Trump has mentioned his administration’s role in preventing a nuclear flashpoint between India and Pakistan more than sixty times.........

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