The structural paralysis of Western security arrangements in the Indo-Pacific has a clear cause. For years, the United States and its allies have tried to build up India as a military counterweight to China. However, a major gap has emerged between Western expectations and Indian actions. While groups like AUKUS function as tight, fast-moving military pacts, the Quad has slowed down significantly. India’s presence has pushed the Quad away from hard defence towards soft issues like climate change, vaccines, and port development. This diplomatic gridlock is explained by India's deep strategic contradictions.
The RELOS Pact: A Game Changer
The most vivid proof of this came with the operationalisation of the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) between New Delhi and Moscow. The pact marks a massive shift in regional dynamics. It allows India and Russia to station up to 3,000 troops, five warships, and 10 military aircraft in each other's territories, even during wartime. By opening its soil to a foreign military for the first time, India has shattered the Western illusion of a unified anti-authoritarian front.
Western Frustration Grows
Activation of the RELOS pact exposes the profound frustration growing within Washington's defence establishment. Western analysts are increasingly viewing India not as a dependable ally, but as a strategically opportunistic actor. While New Delhi gladly accepts American intelligence sharing, joint exercises, and advanced military technology, it simultaneously throws a massive economic and logistical lifeline to Russia. This behaviour cannot simply be brushed aside as harmless multi-alignment. In an era where Moscow and Beijing share a deep strategic partnership, providing Russia with a low-cost logistics bridge into the Indian Ocean indirectly strengthens China's overall footprint. India is effectively running a dual-track security strategy. It feeds off Western capital to secure its local borders while enabling a primary adversary of the West to project power across Asia and the Middle East.
India's Unstable Foreign Policy
From a logical perspective, India's foreign policy is built on an unstable foundation. New Delhi claims that keeping Moscow close prevents Russia from falling completely into China’s orbit. Yet, the opposite is happening. By helping Russia bypass Western sanctions and expand its naval endurance, India is inadvertently strengthening a geopolitical bloc that answers directly to Beijing. Furthermore, India's actions reveal an immense disregard for the concept of collective security. It wants the benefits of a global superpower partnership with the United States without any of the associated responsibilities. This transactional nature makes India highly unreliable for long-term Western objectives in the Indo-Pacific. Washington wanted a bold balancer in Asia, but it has instead received a player still running old Soviet-era scripts.
Opportunity for Pakistan
For Pakistan, this widening rift between India and the West provides an unprecedented diplomatic opening. Islamabad must recognise that India’s erratic behaviour creates a valuable opportunity to recalibrate its own foreign policy. Pakistan should actively implement the strategic policy notes focusing on exposing Indian duplicity globally, capitalising on the US disillusionment and solidifying the Eurasian partnership. Our Foreign Office must aggressively highlight India’s double standards in international forums. If any other country hosted thousands of Russian troops and warships during an active global conflict, they would face severe Western sanctions. Our media and diplomats should consistently frame the RELOS pact as a direct threat to the stability of the Indian Ocean Region.
Positioning as a Reliable Partner
As American policymakers grow increasingly bitter over India's transactional approach, Pakistan should position itself as a highly predictable, reliable partner. Building on our strong relations during the US-Iran war, Islamabad can offer Washington a stable diplomatic channel in South Asia without demanding the massive, risky technology transfers that India absorbs. While Washington struggles to keep India aligned, Pakistan must confidently double down on its strategic axis with Beijing through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Ensuring complete domestic stability and security for Chinese infrastructure projects will cement our place in the emerging economic reality of Asia.
Conclusion
Ultimately, India’s desire to please everyone has left it exposed as a partner that cannot be trusted. By staying focused, maintaining a clear foreign policy, and exposing our neighbour’s shifting loyalties, Pakistan can effectively counter Indian influence and regain vital strategic ground on the global stage. The world will eventually come to know that India is a partner bound to friction, and Pakistan will have a key role to play in the emerging world order.
Faisal Ahmad is a freelance columnist and an alumnus of QAU and FUI. He can be reached at fa7263125@gmail.com
