Across India and among South Asia watchers, Pakistan’s role has been met with a mix of surprise and unease, with sentiments that are increasingly visible in sections of strategic commentary

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As someone who grew up in a border region in the 1980s and early 1990s, where Urdu was the official language of Jammu and Kashmir, and a language close to urban Punjabi served as the native language, television often became a site of small but spirited conflicts among siblings. The choice typically being between American shows aired on Pakistan Television and Doordarshan, India’s state media.

To be honest, many of the shows we watched were outstanding American productions ranging from Roots, the powerful saga of African American history, to Matlock, a legal series. Early on, I often struggled to follow some of these and would instead push for lighter programming on Doordarshan. At the same time, there were numerous shows on Pakistan Television that I could both watch and understand, including Full House and Sesame Street; the list felt almost endless.

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Pakistan’s return: Mediator or West Asia asset?