Author: Ayaz Khan

By Ayaz Khan Lohani Sometimes, a diplomat’s evasion can be more revealing than his answer. That was particularly evident when India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar appeared at the ET World Leaders Forum 2026 in New Delhi, held on August 21–22. The interview covered India’s strategy in an increasingly unstable world, but one exchange stood out: the     discussion about the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, signed on August 7. The interviewer raised Pakistan’s growing profile in West Asia and asked Jaishankar how India viewed the new defence arrangement. Rather than directly assessing the pact,…