Thank you, Modi Jee – Happy 75th Birthday!

A colleague visited India in April 2007. The city of New Delhi was decorated for the 14th SAARC summit and it was glowing with a new confidence of a nation convinced that it had cracked the code of prosperity. Despite many contrasting views compared to the India that I knew from Bollywood, it appeared that under Manmohan Singh, India was all set to take off. Its economy was rising, its policies were working, diplomacy was yielding results, and the cities were shining.

In 2007, Pakistan too was learning new lessons as democracy returned under the Charter of Democracy. What the country needed was not a borrowed model, but a theory of success rooted in its own geography, interests, challenges and resources. That year, it seemed as if the key decision-makers had agreed to turn our geo-strategic location into an asset, to open doors for trade, to uproot terrorism and to devolve power to the provinces. Pakistan also learnt perhaps to balance its foreign relations with those who shared this vision — starting with the United States, China, the European Union, Saudi Arabia and all its neighbours including India. We have traveled a new path since then.

Fast forward to 2025. Looking back nearly two decades, one can thank many politicians, thinkers, citizens, businessmen and even partners for contributing to Pakistan’s pursuit of stability. But hold your heartbeat ladies and gentlemen, because the real shocker is the guy that I am about to thank. The guy I never thought I’d every credit — Mr Narendar Modi. Yep, you heard it right.

The man sitting at the very top of India’s power pyramid has, ironically, done more to strengthen Pakistan than many of the countries that openly call themselves our friends. On paper, his policies were designed to project Indian strength and to box Pakistan in. But in practice, his actions looked less like India’s gain and more like Pakistan’s unintended advantage. The irony is that none of this was by design, what political scientists call the “backfire effect” — when a policy crafted to weaken an adversary ends up fortifying it instead.

Each time he tried to clip Pakistan’s wings, the outcome was the opposite: our resolve deepened, our institutions adjusted and our flight path grew stronger. Each time he tried to unleash India as a force, it would hit him back like

Newton’s second law of motion

I started writing this article in May, right after Pakistan’s stunning victory over India. But I thought — why not save it for a more memorable day? So here we are, September 17, Prime Minister Modi’s 75th birthday. If thanks are due, they may also be delivered with the cake. The irony writes itself. The unintended favors of Modi jee for Pakistan run in thousands. The list could fill volumes, but I’ll stick to the Top 10 actions that he took to weaken us which, instead worked like free fuel for Pakistan’s engine.

First Thank You, for Busting the Myth of Secular India

For decades Pakistan had been the lone skeptic in the room on India’s claim of being a secular country. For decades, Pakistan tried to tell the world that India’s secularism perception was in visible contrast to its reality. We were ignored, dismissed, even mocked. Then came Mr Modi who brought down not just the façade of secularism, but the pillars holding it up. From Gujarat riots in 2002 to Bihar elections in 2025, he is bulldozing the entire ecosystem on which secularism operates. What our newspapers, anchors and pamphlets failed to prove, Modi displayed in broad daylight. Today, it is not Pakistan’s media raising the alarm but the West’s own outlets — its newspapers, magazines and television screens — that report the collapse of the secular giant that India once claimed to be. Perhaps the West owes us a belated compliment — for seeing it long before they did.

Second Thank You, for Endorsing Pakistan’s Partition Logic in India Itself

Partition remains a shared tragedy, but the rationale behind it has never been clearer. In 1947, a minority sought rights it was denied and became what is today Bangladesh and Pakistan. India’s original logic — that Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Dalits and Brahmins could all live together in a united India — looked good on paper but has proved far from reality. There is no living together without equal rights. In a caste system, equality isn’t broken; it is forbidden by design. What the Constitution writes in blue ink, the caste system edits in red. Nearly every minority in India knows that red ink, the one that keeps rewriting their destiny in modern India. The 1947 script of Partition is being replayed — only with new actors. Christians, Sikhs, Dalits and Muslims alike now find themselves cast in the same old role: second-class citizens in a so-called “secular” republic. What was once Pakistan’s argument has turned into India’s daily news cycle. The Two-Nation Theory, once dismissed as divisive dogma, is now being illustrated — ironically — not in Pakistan’s textbooks, but in India’s headlines. Our forefathers were not wrong. They denied inequality in all its forms.

Third Thank You, for Giving Clarity to Kashmiris. We Alone Couldn’t

Kashmiris deserve a better future — every mother, every child, every father, every daughter. For decades, that future remained obscured, hidden behind India’s smoke and mirrors. Its economic might dazzled. Its secular constitution reassured. Its Bollywood limelight distracted. Its claim of being the “world’s largest democracy” echoed endlessly. And yet, behind all that noise, one truth was denied: the Kashmiri people never received the basic right to self-determination, a right promised not by Pakistan but by the United Nations itself.

Pakistan’s support remained consistent; but in the league of nations, one lonely voice could only go so far. Then came your “masterstroke”: the abrogation of Article 370. In trying to tighten its grip, India shattered the illusion it had so carefully maintained. Kashmiris, once caught between promises and propaganda, suddenly saw with perfect clarity.

Today, from the youngest schoolchild to the oldest villager, Kashmiris understand India’s intent more sharply than ever before — and with it, the necessity of their own struggle. Ironically, it was not Pakistan’s speeches, nor Kashmiris’ decades of sacrifice, but India’s own hand that drew the final underline: in Kashmir, there are no equal citizens, only subjects under siege.

Fourth Thank You, for Getting Our Hospitality Endorsed by Indian Air Force

We wanted to play cricket with you, but you had different ideas for sports. In 2019, instead of cricketers, you sent a pilot across the border. Pakistan, in a move that stunned the world, treated him not as a prisoner of war but as a guest of the state — served tea, shown courtesy and returned with dignity. The scene looked less like a battlefield clash and more like a sporting exchange, where sportsmanship mattered more than the scoreboard. The world noticed. International headlines marveled at the contrast — India had crossed the line with jets, and Pakistan had responded with chai. Instead of acknowledging the gesture, you created a new narrative: “Rafale hota to ye na hota.” Disowning your pilots for the sake of a new corporate deal for your favored businessmen. As for Rafales — have you given the total count to any international media?

Fifth Thank You, for Giving Us the Moment to Prove Our Air Superiority

“Rafale hota to ye na hota” — that was your line in 2019 after Pakistan stunned you in the skies. Six years later, the script hasn’t improved. The new slogan is “Operation Sandoor abhi khatam nahin hua.” But the world has already watched the climax.

In 2019, we served homemade tea. In 2025, we served homemade jets — and Chinese PL-15s for dessert. The scoreboard was emphatic: six to zero. In 2019, we gave a trailer. In 2025, we showed a full film. And history will note this as one of those rare moments when a country seven times smaller established conventional superiority over its larger rival.

Yes, our defence forces earned this moment. But let’s also be fair: you gave us the stage, the lights and the audience. All we had to do was perform.

Sixth Thank You, for Teaching Us the Art of Being Nowhere, a Critical Lesson for Our Foreign Policy:

Politics and diplomacy must move in tandem, but what you attempted will go down as one of the strangest contradictions in modern history. You sit in QUAD, pledging to defend American interests in Asia. Then, with the same face, you step into BRICS — a forum built to challenge the very currency America stands on. You pledge full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Then, with the same hand, you write billion-dollar checks to Russia — the very state undermining it. These were not masterstrokes of strategy; they were masterclasses in confusion. What you thought was clever, only made your foreign policy look incoherent.

For us, though, it was illuminating. Your zigzagging has given Pakistan clarity – clarity about where not to stand, whom not to confuse, and how not to sell one thing abroad while buying its opposite at home. You ended up proving the oldest rule of diplomacy: if you try to be everywhere, you belong nowhere. Or, as your own critics now put it — aap kisi ke bhi nahin, apne bhi nahin.

Seventh Thank You, for Reminding Us Not to Eat from Every Table

Importing cheap Russian oil, re-selling it on the world market, and still expecting privileged treatment in Washington. I mean, yes, we sometimes stumble — but what have you been smoking? Washington saw through it, Europe took note, and markets adjusted. What looked like smart maneuvering turned into a credibility crisis.

From the grand slogans of “Make in India” to the blunt hammer of 50 per cent tariffs, the journey was remarkably swift. What you sold as protection turned into punishment — not for rivals, but for Indian exporters themselves.

Modi jee, we learnt from you that when you try to eat from every table, you end up upsetting every host. And while there is nothing to celebrate in workers losing jobs or factories shutting down because of bizarre policies, your missteps have given us clarity. Clarity about what not to do. Clarity about how not to negotiate trade deals.

Eight Thank You, for Vacating the South Asian Leadership

Leadership in South Asia was once India’s to claim. Size, economy, geography, it all tilted in your favour. But since you have been in power, India kept walking out, South Asia looked elsewhere. Boycotts don’t build leadership, they hand it away. By boycotting summits, walking out of rooms, and blaming Pakistan for every agenda item, you didn’t weaken us, you weakened yourself. Each empty chair you left behind made South Asia realise that they deserve better. South Asia deserves better leadership, and you proved, again and again, that you wouldn’t provide it. In the end, you didn’t just vacate the chair you polished it for the next occupant.

Ninth Thank You, for Making Your Media Louder at Home and Hollower Abroad

A free press is supposed to question power. Yours began cheerleading it. By nurturing godi media — anchors who turned every failure into a grand triumph — you didn’t strengthen your narrative, you hollowed it out. News was replaced with noise, journalism with entertainment, facts with slogans.

And here lies the irony: while India drowned in its own echo chamber, Pakistan discovered credibility by contrast. Simply by avoiding your mistakes, by sticking closer to facts, our story suddenly carried more weight. The more your anchors shouted, the more the world leaned in to hear our quieter voice.

As for some of your “star journalists”, they should thank their luck they were born in India. Had they been born in Pakistan, their nightly theatrics would have landed them not on prime time, but in a psychiatric ward.

Tenth Thank You, for Raising Eyebrows in the Muslim World

Ceremonial welcomes can fool cameras, but they cannot fool consciences. Despite the handshakes, garlands and staged photo-ops, your embrace of Netanyahu and the deployment of Israeli drones in May 2025 did not pass quietly. The Muslim world was watching.

For years, many in the Muslim world had grown indifferent to Pakistan, distracted by economics or enticed by India’s markets. You managed, in a single stroke, to change that equation. Your choices reminded them of their own streets — streets where the Palestinian struggle still beats like a second pulse. You embarrassed the founder of India, Gandhi, who once warned: “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French.” By ignoring the words of your own founding father, you have not just raised eyebrows — you have deepened mistrust. There is absolutely no point in boycotting Turkey and Azerbaijan. Stay tuned, more to follow.

Conclusion

Modi jee, the list of your unintended favours to Pakistan could run into the thousands, but time and space force me to stop at ten. Through this article, I make a modest request to my fellow Pakistanis: mark his 75th birthday with the celebration it deserves — a celebration of historic irony. Add to this catalogue of “thank yous” with the countless examples I may have missed.

And let us also remember: if Mr Modi remains in charge for another decade, Pakistan’s greatest challenge may not be confrontation at all, but restraint. Our task might simply be to sit back, stay patient, and ensure we do not repeat the very missteps that weakened India. Sometimes the hardest discipline is to resist the temptation to imitate an adversary’s errors. Let him continue writing chapters of contradiction; our role is to observe, to learn, and to chart a steadier course.

For those inclined to deliver their gratitude more directly, the Prime Minister remains within reach: on Twitter at @narendramodi, by post at South Block, New Delhi – 110011, and through his official website, www.narendramodi.in. After all, if thanks are due, they should arrive at his doorstep.