The Congress on Tuesday said that reports suggesting Pakistan may be acting as an intermediary in communications between the United States, Israel and Iran, if true, would mark a “severe setback” for India.

On Monday, the Financial Times reported that Pakistan was positioning itself as a mediator to help broker an end to the conflict in West Asia and pitching Islamabad as a possible venue for negotiations.

The Donald Trump administration in the US declined to make any concrete comments on the report, but said that “speculations…should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced” by the White House.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “If these reports are true, they represent a severe setback and rebuff to India.”

He added that “it is all attributable to the self-styled Vishwaguru”, in an apparent reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that despite India’s “undoubted military successes” in Operation Sindoor, Pakistan’s diplomatic engagement and narrative management, since then, had been “markedly superior to that of the Modi government”.

He added: “Pakistan, which was in a hugely precarious situation – politically, socially, economically and globally – has received a fresh lease of life.”

Ramesh said that the Pakistani establishment has developed a “cosy relationship” with US President Donald Trump’s immediate circle.

The Congress leader also criticised Modi’s recent visit to Israel on February 25 and February 26, just two days before the US-Israel attacks on Iran began.

“Modi’s ill-advised visit to Israel…will go down in our political history as a singularly disastrous choice – one that has made us retreat from a position where we could and should have mediated,” he said. “The Prime Minister’s huglomacy stands brutally exposed. The country is being forced to pay a price for this.”

The conflict

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran has retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in Gulf countries and some ships.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.