Ah I see what you mean. My guess is it’s probably because the rhetoric coming from Imran Khan is more western-friendly than Modi, even if Pakistan right now is still worse for minorities. Examples being how he handled the Balakot situation (publicly talking about deescalation and returning the Indian pilot) and stuff like publicly condemning the mob who attacked the Hindu temple in KPK, which even made rounds in Indian media. The lockdowns on the Indian side of Kashmir also gave him and western media an easy bone to gnaw on re: muh fascism.

The way I see it is western media views as Imran Khan as a western-educated guy who’s trying, slowly but surely, to drag Pakistan into modernity even if things aren’t great right now, while they see Modi as the opposite: a populist whose turning India from the shining example of secularism in the subcontinent to one with more Hinduvata flare (whether that’s actually true or not).