Pakistan mediating in US-Iran war, but who's mediating in its war?

While Pakistan is looking to be seen as the mediator that pulled the US and Iran back from the edge, it is itself sitting in China's Urumqi, looking for a way out of its own "open war" with Afghanistan.

Pakistan and its hybrid regime are projecting the Islamic Republic as the peacemaker in the war in the Middle East. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, were the men who allegedly convinced US President Donald Trump to pause the strike on Iran, hours before the latter's deadline was expected to end. But even as Islamabad is celebrating its diplomatic relevance and role in "mediating" in the war, there is another war in its home that Pakistan cannot stop on its own. It's Pakistan's war with Afghanistan, where exchanges of fire have often made the situation volatile along the "border", the Durand Line. Trade has been badly hit for months. Hundreds of lives — military and civilian — have been lost. And, there's a constant threat that the situation could become worse.

Now, even as Pakistan is trying to mediate between Washington and Tehran, it is itself sitting across the table with Afghanistan. And it's China which is mediating to find a way out for the warring neighbours.

Just 90 minutes before US President Donald Trump's deadline on Iran was to expire, the US President announced a two-week suspension of bombing plans against Tehran. Trump said he had taken the decision after conversations with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Islamabad jumped into action, wasting no time. It started portraying the development as proof of Pakistan's strategic importance. The Pakistan-based think tank, the Centre for International Strategic Studies, called it "evidence of Pakistan being a responsible and credible diplomatic actor".

However, at the very same time, the war Pakistan is involved in is being discussed in western China's Urumqi.

Pakistan has been alleging that Afghanistan supports the UN-designated terrorist organisation Tehrik-e-Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of giving TTP safe haven, training, and freedom to launch attacks inside their country. Afghanistan has denied all these claims by Pakistan repeatedly.