This chapter introduces ‘layers of recontextualisation’ as a concept for exploring some contextual issues mediating Global Inclusive Education Policy (GIEP) in Pakistan. GIEP refers to policies addressing discrimination in education which are grounded in the Right to Education (United Nations, UN. (1989), the Convention on the Rights of the Child. https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/.) and promoted globally by UNESCO. We view these policies as ‘global’ due to their endorsement by United Nations member states. Moving beyond the common ‘policy-implementation gap’ narrative, the chapter offers an alternative discourse on educational exclusion by emphasising the role of patronage networks, sociopolitical history, and geopolitical dynamics in reshaping GIEP. Our analysis challenges simplified views of educational exclusion, particularly in South Asia, highlighting macro-state dynamics that reshape GIEP. We demonstrate this through the Punjab Education Roadmap (PER), a collaboration between the Government of Punjab and the UK's Department for International Development (DfID). Interviews with elite policy actors reveal complex political agendas behind the PER and, although it aimed to improve inclusion and accountability, it became entangled in issues such as the War on Terror and aid accountability which diluted its impact. We stress the importance of understanding broader socio-political factors in Inclusive Education (IE), challenging the perception of IE as purely a ‘technical’ issue. Instead, we portray the reshaping of GIEP in Pakistan as mediated by political struggle, informality, and conflict, all of which is unlikely to reproduce the text of policy.