Mumbai, April 9 (IANS) The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Thursday said that Pakistan — a nation long criticised as a breeding ground for terrorism and a centre for anti-India conspiracies — is now being hailed by international media as a “global peacemaker”. Following a month of intense warfare between Iran, Israel, and the United States, Pakistan has emerged as the primary mediator, a move that has left the Indian government sidelined on the world stage.

The Thackeray camp, in a scathing editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, Saamana, claimed that it is ironic that the same Pakistan is now gaining international significance due to the “foolish functioning” of the BJP-led government. “In this situation, will India be able to compete with Pakistan in the future? Can our Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah fulfil the announcement of an ‘Akhand Hindustan’ by snatching Kashmir from Pakistan’s jaws? Since the Prime Minister has already ‘retreated into a burrow’ on this issue, no such roar is expected from him. PM Modi has struck a ‘masterstroke’ that forces India to hang its head in shame. Blind devotees, clap your hands,” it taunted.

According to the editorial, while the Modi administration was preoccupied with political manoeuvring in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala elections, the US and Israel bypassed India entirely, choosing Pakistan as the venue for future peace negotiations.

The editorial labelled this a “horrendous failure” for the current administration. It argued that India should have been alert when it emerged that Pakistan was making efforts for peace in the Iran-Israel-US war. Instead, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar dismissed Pakistan as a “broker nation”, but the same nation will now host the upcoming global peace summits.

The editorial highlighted the abrupt ending of Operation Sindoor — an operation meant to avenge the Pahalgam incident — alleging that PM Modi folded under President Trump’s orders. It claimed that while past leaders like Nehru and Indira Gandhi secured India’s place in global politics, the current leadership has allowed that influence to erode.

“Our ‘Vishwaguru’ finds satisfaction in hurling abuses at Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi during election campaigns, but the international importance those same Nehru-Gandhis earned for India has been destroyed in the Modi era,” claimed the Thackeray camp.

–IANS

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