Can Indian MP delegations blunt Pakistan's global narrative edge?

In the wake of the four-day India-Pakistan conflict, New Delhi has launched a public relations-offensive to inform the world about the dangers of Pakistan-backed terror in Kashmir.

Seven delegations comprising MPs from both the ruling party and the Opposition as well as retired diplomats are currently travelling around the globe to present India’s . They have journalists, civil society members and policy makers in cities such as New York, Moscow, Doha and Seoul.

But while these visits are intended to project national unity, Jairam Ramesh of the Congress party saw them as a sign of the Modi government acting in “damage control” mode.

“The Vishwaguru narrative has collapsed and India-Pakistan have been coupled again,” the opposition party’s communications head told Scroll on May 17. “The world is talking about Kashmir, not terrorism.”

Ramesh is not the only person to raise this concern. Since the ceasefire was declared, security and defence experts from around the world have flagged the so-called re-hyphenation of India with Pakistan on the international stage – undermining the success of New Delhi’s effort in recent years in ensuring that it should not be considered only in tandem with Pakistan.

This, along with the renewed focus on the dispute between the two countries over Kashmir – brought up by the...