Pakistani political commentator Najam Sethi heaped praises on India over its trade deal with US, saying that New Delhi does not take "dictation" from anyone and believes in negotiation.
Speaking to a Pakistani news channel, Sethi, who is a close aide of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, seemingly contrasted India's style of negotiation with that of Pakistan.
He indicated that while India believes in a pragmatic style of negotiation while protecting its self-interest, Pakistan has a more emotional and "honour-bound" approach.
"India doesn't take dictation [from anyone]. India negotiates. And it silently gives concessions that are in its interests ... it's not honour-bound. Our [Pakistan] politics is honour-bound ... India doesn't negotiate like that," Sethi said.
"India doesn't take dictation from anyone, not even from USA. India negotiates in its best interest"(Don't laugh at the honor-talk towards the end. He has to go home after the show)pic.twitter.com/Dlctu06nte — Pakistan Untold (@pakistan_untold) February 9, 2026
In the same interview, Sethi also said that India has played its cards well with US President Donald Trump while clinching the trade deal “So, I think India has played its cards well. And I think Donald Trump has also played his cards well,” he said.
He acknowledged that India had made some trade concessions but rejected claims that these weakened its domestic economy.
“India has given some concessions, which are being criticised ... But look, they were saying that India did not protect the farmers. What did they not protect? They protected the farmers and gave permission to the American exporters,” he said.
Sethi underlined that India will not bow to pressure where domestic stability is concerned.
Sethi also expressed scepticism over Sharif government's excessive flattery of Trump and said that the US President cannot be trusted.
"I've been saying from Day 1 that you can't trust Donald Trump. And he may make certain demands that will be difficult for Pakistan to fulfil. And if such a situation arises, then Donald Trump will exert counter-pressure on you ... such a situation may develop in the future," he said.
Sethi added: "We've good ties with Trump admin right now but they can get strained owing to the evolving situation in the Middle East and India-US ties getting back on track."
India and US announced a historic interim trade deal pact on February 8 following talks between President Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Under the deal, US removed an additional 25% tariff on Indian imports, imposed due to India's Russian oil purchases, and lowered the reciprocal tariff from 25% to 18%.
India agreed to lower or eliminate duties on a wide range of American industrial, agricultural and other products and expand market access. It also agreed to purchase $500 billion in US energy, aircraft parts, precious metals, technology (including GPUs) and coking coal over five years.
Notably, India exempted several sensitive agricultural sectors from tariff concessions in the trade deal, protecting them from increased US imports.
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