As Pakistan navigates the complexities of regional politics in 2025, there is an irony so profound that it demands acknowledgement: Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, who invested decades in weakening Pakistan, has inadvertently become one of its most unintentional benefactors.
What makes this reality striking is not merely the catalogue of his missteps but the cumulative effect of those decisions, which transformed Pakistan’s challenges into opportunities. On his 75th birthday (September 17), while India celebrated his survival in politics, Pakistan, with unmasked irony, raised a toast of gratitude for the catalogue of unintended favours that have strengthened our national resolve and global credibility.
The first gift Modi unwittingly offered Pakistan was the demolition of India’s long-cherished myth of secularism. For decades, Pakistan stood nearly alone in arguing that Indian secularism was a fragile mask concealing a rigid hierarchy of caste and a simmering Hindu majoritarianism. The world, distracted by Bollywood, dazzled by India’s markets and reassured by its constitution, dismissed Pakistan’s warnings. But then came the Gujarat riots under Modi’s watch, the citizenship laws targeting Muslims and the rising tide of majoritarian politics that bulldozed the remaining pillars of pluralism. Today, it is not Pakistan’s press but Western outlets too that lament the end of Indian secularism. Far from discrediting Pakistan’s stance, Modi has validated it, proving that the Two-Nation Theory was a sober recognition of social realities.
Equally revealing has been India’s mishandling of Kashmir. By abrogating Article 370, Modi stripped away the last pretence of autonomy and exposed India’s intentions before the global community. In seeking to cement control, his government only gave Kashmiris sharper clarity, galvanising their resistance and reinforcing Pakistan’s position as the consistent advocate of their right to self-determination.
Modi’s second unintended favour came on the battlefield of perception. The 2019 Balakot episode, ending with an Indian pilot sipping tea in Pakistan, turned India’s show of bravado into a global embarrassment and highlighted Pakistan’s composure. By May 2025, the contrast between India’s rhetoric and reality was unmistakable. Even Indian media, reduced to an echo chamber of government propaganda, worked in Pakistan’s favour; while their anchors shouted, Pakistan’s quieter, fact-based voice gained credibility abroad.
Diplomacy, too, became a field of unintended instruction. One moment, India pledged allegiance to the QUAD, defending American interests; the next, it funnelled billions into Russian coffers while claiming neutrality in Ukraine. It sought leadership in BRICS while parroting Western values in other forums. This attempt to sit at every table not only eroded India’s credibility but also handed Pakistan a crucial lesson: true diplomacy requires coherence, not contradictions.
By contrast, Pakistan found clarity in what not to do, shaping steadier relationships with China, the US, Saudi Arabia and even Europe. Modi’s boycott of South Asian forums further vacated the region’s leadership mantle, leaving space for Pakistan and others to step in. Modi, by choosing to abandon regional platforms, weakened India’s claim and offered Pakistan breathing room to assert its relevance.
The final stroke of irony came in the global and Muslim world context. Modi’s embrace of Israel, his military flirtations with Netanyahu and his silence on Palestinian suffering may have yielded temporary photo-ops, but they shook India’s standing in the wider Muslim community.
Likewise, India’s economic missteps, from punishing tariffs to unsustainable oil manoeuvres, triggered crises that alienated Western partners. By contrast, Pakistan, learning from India’s blunders, sought steadier economic policies and more consistent diplomacy. That is perhaps the greatest irony of all: Modi, in seeking to undercut Pakistan, became the cautionary tale that equipped us with clarity for the future.
Modi’s 75th birthday reminded us that adversaries can also be teachers. His legacy for India may be one of division and confusion, but for Pakistan it offered clarity, resolve, and credibility. Our task now is not to repeat his errors but to stay patient, disciplined and steady.
The writer is a freelance contributor and writes on issues concerning national and regional security.
She can be reached at: omayaimen333gmail.com