"Pakistan is part of the problem" ::::: -- "Difference" in being India .... New Delhi 'better placed' than most nations to help bring end to US-Iran War ::: “Islamabad offering help is like a man in a burning building offering you a room"

"India is better placed than most nations to help broker a way out."  

"Why would you go to Pakistan to Islamabad to try and close a deal, if you will, on ending the war? That's an impossibility. It strikes me as just ludicrous nonsense," says a key US expert and associate of Donald Trump.

“Pakistan offering help is like a man in a burning building offering you a room.” 

Geopolitical risk advisor, Colonel (Retd) Douglas Macgregor has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi could play a decisive role in easing tensions in the ongoing US-Israel conflict with Iran. He also took aim at Pakistan’s credibility as a mediator. In a podcast with ANI, Douglas Macgregor painted a stark picture of shifting global order, contending that India is better placed than most nations to help broker a way out.  

Douglas Macgregor says Iran has the upper hand, leaving Donald Trump relying on massive conventional force to avoid global and domestic humiliation, though success remains uncertain.

"The reason I pick India is because I think President Trump, if he listens to anybody at this point, is probably going to listen to Prime Minister Modi," he said. India’s rising economic and military strength, along with the trust it enjoys globally, places it in a strong and unique position. "You are this large and powerful state economically, even militarily more so than I think you appreciate," he added.

Douglas Macgregor also said India enjoys a rare level of trust across major global powers -- from Russia and Iran to Israel and the United States —-- placing it in a unique position to act as a bridge between opposing sides.

"This is someone who is at ease with Putin in Moscow comfortable talking to the leadership in Tehran the Israelis are comfortable with him. We are comfortable with India," he said.

According to him, PM Modi could help simplify the complex demands on both sides and push for a realistic ceasefire framework. 

"We need to find a solution that moves us down the list to say two or three points that then become the basis for future talks and in the interim a ceasefire," he said.

"I would urge Prime Minister Modi to call President Trump and say we can do more for you," he said. 

“Pakistan will not be viewed as neutral by Israelis. They will see Pakistan as part of the problem.”

(Background note :  --  After retiring from the military in 2004, Macgregor became more politically active. In 2020, president Donald Trump proposed him as the U.S. ambassador to Germany, but the U.S. Senate blocked the nomination. 

On November 11, 2020, a Pentagon spokesperson announced that Macgregor had been hired to serve as senior advisor to the acting secretary of defense,[5] a post he held for less than three months. Trump also appointed him to the board of the U.S. Military Academy, but the appointment was terminated by president Joe Biden in 2021.[6] Macgregor's commentary has been noted for placing a lower significance on Ukraine, illegal immigrants and refugees than competing priorities in terms of overall U.S. foreign relations considerations. )

Douglas Macgregor dismissed Pakistan’s role as a potential mediator. 

"For the Pakistanis to offer help is sort of like a man who is in a burning building offering you a spare room in the building," he said.

He argued that Pakistan’s internal challenges -- particularly its economic troubles -- limit its ability to play any meaningful diplomatic role. "Pakistan has enormous problems. I mean, financially they’re insolvent and so forth," he said.

"Pakistan is not going to be viewed in any way, shape or form as neutral by the Israelis. They’re going to view Pakistan as part of the problem," he said.  

He further pointed to Pakistan’s own statements on the conflict as a major obstacle. "The Pakistani government has said that if the Israelis should use a nuclear weapon they will in turn strike Israel Why would you go to Pakistan to try and close a deal?" he asked.

Beyond mediation, he warned that the conflict is part of a much larger global shift, with long-term consequences. He cautioned that the war is not a short-term crisis but a prolonged conflict with serious economic and geopolitical fallout. 

In another interview, he said : "We did it to the Japanese (in 1945), and it did not work. It took the nuclear option to change the condition in Japan. So I think this is not going to produce what President Trump wants. Which he wants to be able to stand there and accept the surrender of the Iranian nation to him. I don't see that happening"