Unfortunately, I think they're moving in the other direction. They just discontinued Messenger Lite, which I used. I think now that people in India and other countries have more powerful phones, they feel less urge to keep the Lite versions available
Many use the messager to stay in contact with people even if they don't use facebook itself much, especially on phones so it absolutely did if you ask me!
I personally would greatly prefer to use Messenger via the Facebook mobile webapp, but that's not an option, to my great chagrin. I wish they'd just let me use their product how I want to, but that's not The Facebook Way.
They discontinued the messager Lite not that long ago so I seriously doubt that will ever happen, luckily I don't use Whatsapp I guess but most people sadly more or less have to!
I recently uninstalled Instagram and started using it in my browser where I can use uBlock to block features I don't need like reels and the explore feed. WhatsApp is the last remaining Meta app on my phone, and I look forward to the day that I can just get rid of it.