Sergio was in Kashmir last week, along with a bevy of American officials. This was not a tourism visit. Nor was it a recce for American travelers. It was diplomacy, direct and deliberate. And he left behind a loaded statement: “Kashmir is an important part of India.”

India does not need anybody’s endorsement on Kashmir being an integral part of India. That is settled in our Constitution, in our history, and in the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Yet, in a highly globalised world marked by sensitive geopolitics, New Delhi must remain alert to how other countries speak about, and act on, India’s unity and integrity.
Let’s talk about the Internationalisation trap. I have written copiously about the undue internationalisation of Kashmir. It began, tactically and wrongly, with Nehru taking the issue to the UN in 1948. It has been repeated, and weaponised, by Pakistan ever since. The Simla Agreement of 1972 was clear: India and Pakistan will resolve all issues, including Kashmir, bilaterally. That remains the only valid framework.
To complete the integration of India left incomplete in 1947, the logical next step is for Pakistan to vacate the portion of Kashmir it has illegally occupied. PoK is not “disputed territory.” It is Indian territory under forcible and illegal occupation.
That said, world powers have used Kashmir to needle India for decades. The Soviet Union, and now Russia, has often dangled its veto in India’s favour at the UN, and in return sought concessions from Delhi. Western countries have used Kashmir as a reason to push-sell arms to both India and Pakistan. For long, Kashmir became a key determinant in India’s foreign policy calculations.
Of late, India has consolidated its position decisively. By reorganising Jammu and Kashmir as a Union Territory in 2019, and by bringing security management directly under the Centre, Delhi removed the ambiguities that outsiders exploited. The next step in strategic clarity is to assert India’s claim over PoK, and to place Pakistan diplomatically in its place with the simple message: Islamabad has no case in any part of Kashmir.
Why Sergio came now>? Sergio’s visit to Kashmir must be read in the context of Pakistan’s duplicitous behavior with America, especially since the Iran conflict. For reasons best known to him, in his second term Donald Trump made a volte-face on Pakistan and tried to prop it up. My reading is three-fold.
First, there appear to be Trump family business interests in Pakistan. Second, Washington wants to decouple Pakistan from China’s orbit. Third, Trump sought to use Pakistan as a lever to manage India, while also courting Delhi to address his own misgivings about trade and tariffs. That strategy has clearly failed.
Trump tried to lift Pakistan’s image by projecting it as an interlocutor in the Iran war. This was absurd on two counts. Pakistan is widely recognised as a hub of terrorism. And it commands no credibility either with Israel or with Iran. At best, Islamabad could act as a post box, not a peace-maker.
The optics were even more jarring: Trump’s meeting with the Pakistani Army Chief; the US Vice President calling the Pakistani Army Chief “his next best friend after his wife.” These were not just undiplomatic. They were ridiculous.
America has now realised the mistake. Embracing a military establishment that sponsors cross-border terror does not buy Washington influence. It erodes it. West Asia is shifting. Look at the latest developments in West Asia. We are witnessing the end of an era of unquestioned American dominance.
A flurry of new alignments is reshaping the region. A Saudi-Turkiye-Pakistan defence pact is in the works. Fourteen countries have endorsed a Saudi-led maritime defence coalition to secure the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden. Pakistan and Kuwait have advanced a five-year defence cooperation framework. Regional powers are no longer waiting for Washington’s nod. They are forging their own paths, often in directions that run counter to US interests.
For India, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is a more volatile neighbourhood, with terror networks getting new patrons. The opportunity is to step in as a stabilising, developmental power — one that offers trade, connectivity, and security without ideological baggage.
America perhaps realises that equations in West Asia are changing, partly at Pakistan’s behest. These new equations aim to chip away at America’s traditional predominant influence, and even to tear away the security cover the United States provides to Israel.
America seems to embark on a course-correction. So, it is no coincidence that Sergio lands in Kashmir on 19 August. That Trump makes a statement that India’s electoral system is “perfect” and that America should emulate it.
That on August 8, 2026, the US Vice President called the Indian Prime Minister to review regional and global developments, reiterating US commitment to the Indo-US Strategic Partnership. These are not random events. They are signals of a course correction.
Washington understands that if it wants credibility in the Indo-Pacific and West Asia, it cannot outsource South Asia policy to Rawalpindi. It must deal directly with New Delhi. And it must acknowledge facts on the ground: Kashmir is, and will remain, an integral part of India.
What India must do now? While these developments augur well for India, we must grab the opportunity with both hands. Vis-à-vis Pakistan: Continue to expose its duplicity. Keep the focus on terrorism. Internationalise Pakistan’s role as the epicentre of terror, instead of allowing it to internationalise Kashmir. Diplomatically and politically, keep asserting the claim on PoK. Let the world know that the unfinished business of 1947 is the vacation of illegal occupation.
Vis-à-vis China: Deepen border management, build infrastructure, and strengthen partnerships in the Quad and beyond. China watches how seriously the US treats India. A strong Indo-US partnership is itself a deterrent.
Vis-à-vis the World: Use culture, economy, and democracy as instruments of foreign policy. India’s story today is not just about GDP. It is about digital public goods, about a successful electoral system serving 1.4 billion people, about civilizational continuity. That is soft power with hard consequences. Kashmir today is peaceful, connected, and aspiring. Tourists are back. Investment is coming in. Youth are looking to the future, not to the past. That is the strongest answer to any propaganda.
To conclude, Sergio’s statement in Kashmir was not news to Indians. But it was news to those who have been playing games with India’s territorial integrity. The message from Delhi should be equally clear: India welcomes friends who respect its sovereignty. India will deal firmly with those who do not.
In a world of shifting alliances and transactional partnerships, India must stand on principle: principle of bilateralism, principle of zero tolerance to terror, principle of Viksit Bharat — a self-reliant, confident India that contributes to global stability.
Pakistan’s duplicity is being seen for what it is. America’s rethink is underway. And India’s moment is here. We must not waste it.

Email:-----------------------------dr.dkgiri@gmail.com