US, Pak Prepare for Round Two of Iran Talks as Ceasefire End Nears; India Must Reclaim Strategic Autonomy Now; Modi's Changing Hues, One-Track Mind
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April 20, 2026
Siddharth Varadarajan
News reports from the United States and Pakistan indicate a second round of high-level talks between top US and Iranian leaders might take place in Islamabad on Tuesday or Wednesday, but the fact that there has been no let up in Donald Trump’s rhetoric is not a good omen. As of now, the two-week ceasefire ends at midnight on Wednesday, April 22. The US president insists he will not lift his blockade of Iranian ports until there is a ‘zero nuclear’ deal with Iran and the fact that the US navy used force to interdict an Iranian merchant ship is also hardening Iran’s stand. Iran announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz right after Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon but reversed course when the US refused to end its blockade.
In a cryptic tweet aimed at bond traders, Iran’s top negotiator, M B Ghalibaf, warned that the consequences of renewed hostility would be especially bad for US Treasuries.
Al Jazeera reported that Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir had advised Donald Trump to lift the blockade and that the US president was reportedly considering his advice. There has, however, been no further confirmation of this – neither of the request nor the offer of consideration. Either way, though, Pakistan continues to be a key player in the process and Farah N Jan describes Islamabad as ‘the indispensable broker’:
“A state that can call Trump, Witkoff, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the same week and be taken seriously by all three is not a problem to be managed. It is a resource to be understood.”
In another setback to the Modi government’s strategy of seeking to diplomatically isolate Pakistan, Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its support for Pakistan’s economy by extending an existing $5 billion deposit at the State Bank of Pakistan and announcing an additional $3 billion deposit, according
