New Delhi: The Indian currency (INR) has experienced a significant decline against the Pakistani rupee (PKR) over the past 12 months, a period that coincided with the announcement of ceasefire by US President Donald Trump after the 88-hour-long Operation Sindoor in May 2025. On May 15, 2025, the exchange rate stood at 3.2913 PKR per INR By May 18, 2026, the rate had fallen to 2.9010 PKR per INR This represents a depreciation of approximately 11.86%, with a 6.8% fall in the year 2026 alone.This sharp decline demonstrates that India’s economic challenges are not merely a result of the global strength of the dollar or the crisis in West Asia. Instead, these figures highlight fundamental weaknesses in domestic policy and economic management under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The Indian rupee has been the worst performing currency in Asia in 2025 and continued to be the worst performing in the current year. The Indian rupee has also weakened against the Bangladesh taka in the same period, from 1.42 to 1.28 taka per rupee, a fall of nearly 10% in the year.The Modi government often attributes the weakness of the rupee only to external pressures and the crisis in West Asia. However, the consistent decline against the Pakistani currency suggests that the issue is specific to India. If the decline were purely driven by global factors or the dollar, the impact would be more uniform across all regional currencies. Other emerging market currencies faced the same external shocks but did not weaken against Pakistan in the same way.The Indian rupee’s decline against the Pakistani rupee began with military conflict and diplomatic intervention but has continued since. This clearly reinforces the assessment that there are structural issues within the Indian economy which go beyond the strains added on by global factors. The comparison with Pakistan is instructive because it again entered an International Monetary Fund programme in 2025 and was forced to implement strict fiscal and monetary measures.As a BJP candidate for the prime minister in 2012 and 2013, Modi frequently criticised the UPA government for the declining value of the rupee. He famously argued that the fall of the rupee was a direct reflection of the Union government’s failure and poor governance.He also consistently used aggressive nationalistic language regarding Pakistan to position himself as a stronger leader. He claimed that the UPA government was unable to stop Pakistan from acting against Indian interests and that a strong leader like him would ensure India maintained its dominance.The current data sits uneasily with those statements made before he was voted to office as prime minister. His own government now faces the reality of a currency that is losing ground even against the Pakistani rupee. The decline has persisted for a full year and covers both global shocks and domestic policy conditions.A recent article in the Financial Times on growing wariness around Modi and his government too noted the falling rupee as one of the causes:“The rupee has been one of the worst-performing major currencies for several quarters, driving up the cost of everything from education abroad to foreign business and leisure travel. Over the weekend, a media report speculating that the government was considering a tax or surcharge on overseas travel triggered an avalanche of public anger on social media. In a rare and direct rebuttal that indicates how seriously he took this, Modi personally dismissed the story on social media, calling it “totally false” with “not an iota of truth” to it.”International observers have been saying for some time now that the rupee’s fall is not exclusively linked to global happenings. In March, for instance, the Japanese bank MUFG noted that the rupee will likely continue to fall till the end of this year no matter what happens with the West Asia crisis – it is just the degree of the fall that will be affected by global events.