Pakistan wanted Nobel Peace Prize for Trump yesterday. Today, it wax lyrical against US attack

A day after it announced the decision to formally recommend US President Donald Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistan's government made a U-Turn on Sunday, openly backing America's archfoe Iran. A statement issued by the Pakistani government after the air strike said it "backed Tehran and its right of self-defence".

Interestingly, this came a day after Pakistan lavished praise on Trump, hailing his "decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership" during the recent India-Pakistan crisis. The move, as part of the country's plan to cosy up to Trump, came just days after the US President hosted the country's Army Chief Asim Munir in the White House.

Islamabad, which rushed to the US seeking intervention for a ceasefire after India bombed its Nur Khan air base, had called Donald Trump "a genuine peacemaker." The statement said Trump "demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi."

The statement, ironically, said Pakistan remained hopeful that Trump’s "earnest efforts" will continue to contribute towards regional and global stability, particularly in the Middle East, including in Gaza and Iran crisis.

However, a day later, it shifted its tone, stating that the US violated international law. "Pakistan condemns US attacks on the nuclear facilities of Iran [....] We reiterate that these attacks violate all norms of international law and that Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself under the UN charter," the Foreign Office said in a statement.  

'Learn from India'

National security and Indo-Pacific analysis analyst Derek J. Grossman took to X to call out Pakistan. "Is Pakistan now going to rescind its nomination of Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize? What a total embarrassment--yet another!--for Islamabad," his post read.

Mirza Shahzad Akbar, advisor to Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, too called out the "glaring contradiction" in the statements released within two days. He said the statements highlighted "a deeper malaise within Pakistan's foreign policy apparatus."

"One led not by seasoned diplomats or statesmen with vision, but by short-course and long-course generals obsessed with optics and insecure alliances. The condemnation statement, while legally sound, comes off as reactionary and devoid of strategic depth," he said, adding that Pakistan's military establishment, enamoured with symbolic muscle-flexing and perpetual crisis management, continues to drag Pakistan into avoidable diplomatic embarrassments.

"Learn from India, currently managing to maintain equidistance from the unfolding US-Iran escalation without sacrificing either its regional influence or international partnerships. Their ability to balance relationships with Washington, Tehran, and Tel Aviv, all while securing their national interest, demonstrates a finesse glaringly absent in Rawalpindi’s foreign policy thinking," he added.

'Embarrassed as a Pakistani'

Though the government didn't find anything wrong in its stance, the Pakistani public definitely did with many taking to social media to state how "embarrassed" they were.  

One user said Trump was better known for "chaos, division, and warmongering" and Pakistan's decision to nominate him was "an insult to every true peacemaker."

Another user, a journalist based in Europe, too shamed Pakistan. "Only days after Pakistan nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistan condemned the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. How has this country survived 77 years and only be split once?" he posted. 

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