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A year after they conducted airstrikes in each other’s territory, Iran and Pakistan appear to be burying the hatchet as Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir visit Tehran and meet the Iranian leadership.

The key factor bringing the countries together is Gaza, devastated in the aftermath of Israel’s brutal counterstrike to the Hamas attacks in October 2023. While Pakistan brought up its recent conflict with India and Kashmir, Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, in public remarks, has only said Iran hopes disputes between India and Pakistan are resolved.During his meeting with Khamenei, Sharif brought up the India-Pakistan conflict after New Delhi carried out airstrikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack that left 26 innocents dead. The Pakistan Prime Minister appreciated Iran’s “positive role” during the conflict.

During a joint press conference with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sharif said Pakistan is ready to talk with India “to find solutions” to “longstanding problems”, including Kashmir, water-sharing and trade. “We are ready to talk, for the sake of peace on water issues with our neighbour. We are ready to talk to promote trade and also, counter-terrorism. We wanted peace, we want peace and we will work for peace in the region through talks, on the table, and resolve our outstanding issues,” Sharif said, according to a report in The Dawn. “But if they accept my offer of peace, then we will show that we really want peace, seriously and sincerely.”Iran’s response was measured. “We are delighted with the end of conflicts between Pakistan and India and hope that the differences between the two countries will be resolved,” Khamenei said on X.

Iranian state media IRNA reported that President Pezeshkian voiced Iran’s support for a durable ceasefire between India and Pakistan, calling for dialogue to resolve disputes and promote peace.According to a report in The Tehran Times, Khamenei has acknowledged that Pakistan has not joined the countries normalising ties with Israel in “a blatant betrayal of the Palestinian cause” despite Western pressure. “While there have been temptations for Islamic countries to engage with the Zionist regime in recent years, Pakistan has never succumbed to these temptations,” he said during a meeting with the Pakistani Prime Minister. He said the Palestine issue is the foremost concern of the Islamic world. “The situation in Gaza has reached a point where ordinary people in Europe and the United States are protesting their governments, yet unfortunately, some Islamic governments stand alongside the Zionist regime under these circumstances,” he said.

The Dawn reported that Israeli actions have caused untold misery for the people of Gaza. “It is high time that the international community used its influence to bring a lasting ceasefire in Palestine. Pakistan stands by its brothers and sisters in Iran to promote peace, progress and prosperity,” he said.

BJP leader SS Ahluwalia, part of the all-party delegation led by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, scathingly criticised Pakistan, stating that it has repeatedly used terrorism as a weapon against India after losing three wars.

In a strongly worded statement at a joint conference, Mr Ahluwalia emphasized India’s longstanding concerns about Pakistan’s hostile actions, pointing out that after these conventional wars, Pakistan shifted its strategy to cross-border terrorism.He further emphasized that terrorism poses a threat not only to India but to the entire world.

Mr Ahluwalia said, “India and Pakistan were declared in 1947… Since the beginning, Pakistan has been engaging in wars against India… The 1st war was in 1965, the 2nd in 1971,… the 3rd was in 1999. Pakistan was badly defeated in all three wars. They withdrew with the intervention of America… After being defeated in conventional wars, they have a new way of fighting India, which is cross-border terrorism… They are employing their people for terror activities in the name of Islam… They are getting complete support from the Pakistani army to sneak into our territory and destabilise… They failed. India is the 4th largest economy of the world, and they are reeling under poverty… Terrorism is like a monster… Today it is a threat to us, tomorrow it will be a threat to the entire world… All terror activities have a connection with Pakistan… They either get training or logistic support from there…”

Meanwhile, Ambassador Sujan Chinoy stated that Pakistan has not only rejected peaceful relations with India but also blocked progress in South Asia.

He called on the global community to recognise Pakistan’s role in supporting terrorism and to put pressure on it to choose peace over violence.

“Apart from rejecting the hand of peace and friendship, Pakistan has also thwarted the impulses of peace, progress and development in South Asia… All differences between India and Pakistan must and can be addressed only through bilateral negotiations and bilateral mechanisms. We have bilateral agreements that commit us to this bilateral process, and there is therefore no scope for any kind of international intervention or mediation, which is completely out of the question. But there is great scope for the international community to recognise Pakistan’s role in promoting international terrorism, cross-border terrorism and to put adequate pressure on Pakistan so that it abjures the path of terrorism in favour of a path of peace,” Mr Chinoy saidAdditionally, the all-party delegation had a meeting with the President of the Foreign Affairs Commission, Congo, Berthhold Ulungu Ekonda Lukata.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Bansuri Swaraj, Atul Garg, Manan Kumar Mishra, Indian Union Muslim League’s ET Mohammed Basheer, Biju Janata Dal’s Sasmit Patra, BJP leader SS Ahluwalia, and former Ambassador Sujan Chinoy are also part of the Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde-led delegation.

The delegation aims to brief international partners on India’s response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader fight against cross-border terrorism while engaging with leaders.

The multi-party delegation, consisting of seven groups led by one MP each, has been initiated to counter global misinformation and highlight India’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism.

In its appeal to a New York court, the Trump administration claimed that a legal setback would lead to undesirable actions by China and could even lead to a resumption of the India-Pakistan conflict. It would also leave Washington embarrassed, officials told the court.

The Trump administration, which has been spending a lot of its time in courts lately due to controversial orders signed by Donald Trump, has urged the American judiciary not to put a ‘stay’ or ‘hold’ on the US President’s vastly unpopular tariffs move. The reasons it gave to justify its request highlighted how Donald Trump “used tariffs and trade” to pause the India-Pakistan conflict, and force China into negotiations.

In its appeal to a New York court, the Trump administration claimed that a legal setback to the tariffs order signed by Trump would lead to undesirable actions by China and could even lead to a resumption of the India-Pakistan conflict. It would also leave Washington embarrassed globally, officials told the court.The officials who represented the Trump administration in court were Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. A three-judge bench is hearing a case filed by a group of small businesses in the US challenging President Trump’s use of a “national emergency” to impose tariffs that have crippled several companies.

In court, the Trump administration claimed that the US President has been using the tariff card to “fix” global issues, giving the recent military actions taken by Pakistan and India as its example. Though India has rejected Donald Trump’s claims of “brokering” or “moderating” a “ceasefire” between “nuclear-armed” India and Pakistan, US officials have now repeated the claim in court, adding that the current truce between the two nations is “fragile”.

According to a report in the South China Morning Post, Mr Lutnick told the court that It was President Trump’s spiraling tariffs that exerted pressure on Beijing to “achieve the foreign-policy objective of bringing China – the greatest contributor to the national emergency and a well-known strategic adversary – to the negotiating table”.

He further stated that a conflicting court ruling would “collapse ongoing trade negotiations, allow for Chinese aggression during a period of strategic competition, and leave the American people exposed to predatory economic practices.”

Backing his colleague, Secretary Rubio told the court that it was “not appropriately situated to handle and intervene in matters of foreign policy and national security.” He went on to say that a legal setback would “lead to embarrassment of the United States on a global stage” and would “embolden allies and adversaries alike, leading to a dangerous situation globally”.

US Student Visa Pause: This means that the US’s decision to pause student visa interviews globally will impact aspiring Indian students the most. The Trump administration, had on Tuesday, ordered its embassies and consulates worldwide to not schedule any new interviews for student-visa applicants.India has for years been among the top two countries from where students go to the United States of America to pursue their higher education. In the last few years, Indians have outranked China to emerge as the largest contingent of international students in the US.

This means that the US’s decision to pause student visa interviews globally will impact aspiring Indian students the most. The Donald Trump administration, had on Tuesday, ordered its embassies and consulates worldwide to not schedule any new interviews for student-visa applicants. The reason behind the move is that the Trump administration is in the process of ramping up vetting of social media profiles of all applicants.This new move is likely to result in significantly longer wait times for applications to be scrutinized, thereby delaying the interview schedules and making the visa approval process much lengthier. To tackle the existing backlog of applications, the US government has decided to defer the interview process till existing forms aren’t perused and the applicant’s background checks, including online activity, is not complete.

There is no deadline set for this, so it is uncertain as to how long the “pause” is likely to remain in effect. This latest development comes amid President Trump’s ongoing battle with US universities and colleges, including those which are part of the Ivy league. Donald Trump also wants to reform the higher education system in the US, while simultaneously initiating a crackdown on student activism and “Left liberal” legislation that promote diversity policies, which the Trump Administration has labeled as “divisive”. Students visas are also being revoked and students deported if they are found to indulge in on-campus protests, especially on political issues, such as the war in Gaza. The US government has called such protests “anti-Semitic” and students who participate in it, “terror sympathisers”. This is what has led to the enhanced scrutiny and background checks of applicants and their social media activity.

According to the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, which is the only long-standing, comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars in the United States, there are more than 11,26,690 foreign students enrolled in America as of 2023-24. A year earlier it was 10,57,188.

Of these, 3,31,602 students, who went to study in the US in 2023-24 are from India – the highest among all countries globally. China followed in second place with 2,77,398 students. All the other nations combines made up the remaining 5,17,690 for that year.

India’s year-on-year increase in student enrollment in the US was a staggering 23.3 per cent. Indian students alone made up for nearly 30 per cent of all the international students in America in 2023-24.India’s year-on-year increase in student enrollment in the US was a staggering 23.3 per cent. Indian students alone made up for nearly 30 per cent of all the international students in America in 2023-24.

Of the 3,31,602 Indian students who went to study in America last year (2023-24), 42.9 per cent pursued an education in Math and Computer Science. This was followed by Engineering, which accounted for 24.5 per cent of all Indian students. The fields of Business and Management, Physical and Life Sciences, and Health Professions saw 11.2 per cent, 5.4 per cent, and 2.7 per cent of Indian students.

While most Indians students last year enrolled at a Graduate-level – 1,96,567 – Undergraduate students accounted for 36,053 of the total. Students in Optional Practical Training or OPT made up 97,556 of the Indian applicants, while the tally of non-degree students stood at 1,426.Open Doors is sponsored by the US Department of State with funding provided by the US Government and supported in its implementation by the Institute of International Education or IIE.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DIKTAT

Implementing an immediate pause in student visa interviews for the year 2025-26, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote, “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.” His instructions have gone out to US Embassies and diplomats across the world.

Exposing Pakistan’s propaganda to project its conflict with India as a Hindu-Muslim binary, AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has said more than 240 million proud Muslims live in India and India has many reputed Islamic scholars.

“It is most unfortunate that Pakistan gives out a wrong message to the Arab world and the Muslim world that we are a Muslim country and India is not. There are 240 million proud Indian Muslims living in India. Our Islamic scholars are much better than any scholar in the world. They can speak the best of the Arabic language… This is Pakistan’s false propaganda that India is hurting them because they are a Muslim country,” he said, adding that if Pakistan stops backing terrorist groups, there will be stability in South Asia.

Mr Owaisi was speaking at an interaction in Saudi Arabia, which he is visiting as part of an Indian delegation for the government’s mega global outreach in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.Calling out Pakistani propaganda about the prowess of their military power, he said, “What happened on (May) 9th? Their nine airbases were targeted. If India had wanted, we could have completely damaged those airbases. But we wanted to show them a mirror and say, ‘we are warning you, don’t do it, don’t force us to go on that path’… nine terrorist organisation headquarters were targeted. Another shocking thing was that the person who led the namaz for the terrorists killed is a designated US terrorist.”

Pakistan, he said, must be put back on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list to curb terror funding. “Pakistan must be brought back to the FATF grey list. That is how we will be able to control this terror financing of all these terrorist organisations. When this person (Asim Munir) was made a Field Marshal in Pakistan, a US-designated terrorist called Mohammad Ehsan was sitting right beside the Field Marshal. There are photographs of him shaking hands with this field marshal. There is clear evidence of Pakistan’s involvement. These terror groups are prospering over there, they are being trained over there, and the whole task is to destabilise India to create more Hindu Muslim riots.”

Mr Owaisi also said that the Manmohan Singh government had handed over evidence to Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008.After 26/11, my government, headed by the then Prime Minister, late Dr Manmohan Singh, the Indian investigators went to Pakistan, gave them all the evidence, but you will be surprised to know that nothing moved forward. What made Pakistan move forward in this terrorist trial was when Pakistan was put on the FATF grey list. One meeting was held in Germany, and India wanted one Sajid Mir to be indicted, but Pakistan said he’s dead… Pakistan came up to the Committee of FATF and said Sajid Mir is alive. Can you imagine the country which was saying he’s dead, suddenly, he’s alive? And then the Pakistani government said that our courts have convicted him for some 5 to 10 years, but the main culprits of the 26/11 are still scot-free. They were convicted of money laundering, not for terrorism,” Mr Owaisi said.The Indian legal system followed all the due process of law, and Ajmal Kasab was sentenced to death, and he revealed many things. Our agencies were capable enough to record the audio conversations in which the terrorist group, sitting in Pakistan, were having with terrorists who were killing Indians in five-star hotels, and those conversations they were clearly told them not to lose heart, kill as many Indians as you can, and you will go to Jannat,” he said.

The delegation Mr Owaisi is part of is led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda and includes BJP’s Nishikant Dubey, Phangnon Konyak, Rekha Sharma, nominated MP Satnam Singh Sandhu and former diplomat Harsh Shringla. This delegation has travelled to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria.

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