The euphoria seen in certain Indian circles regarding Pakistan’s “diplomatic masterstroke” in Islamabad is not just misplaced—it is historically illiterate. To suggest that a state currently teetering on economic collapse and internal fragmentation has suddenly become a regional arbiter is to ignore fifty years of “Mercenary Diplomacy.” As External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has pointedly suggested, Pakistan operates as a “dalal” (middleman) nation—a state that rents out its strategic geography and diplomatic channels to the highest bidder. Every time Islamabad has attempted to “outplay” its reality, the result has been the same: a short-term cash infusion followed by long-term strategic…