Now Reading: India says Track-2 dialogues with Pakistan are private, not official
-
01
India says Track-2 dialogues with Pakistan are private, not official
The Indian government told Parliament on Thursday that Track-2 dialogues between Indian and Pakistani think tanks and retired officials are outside its purview, as participants engage in their private capacity. Minister of…
The Story in Brief
The Indian government told Parliament on Thursday that Track-2 dialogues between Indian and Pakistani think tanks and retired officials are outside its purview, as participants engage in their private capacity. Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, replying to Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, said such individuals' views do not reflect government policy. The clarification follows a June meeting of Indian and Pakistani experts at a regional security conference in Colombo.
Separately, Singh confirmed that the Indus Waters Treaty remains in abeyance after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack. 'The Treaty will continue to be held in abeyance until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism,' he said. India and Pakistan still maintain functional diplomatic engagements, including DGMO-level talks and exchange of prisoner lists.
The Indian Opinion
The government’s distinction between Track-2 dialogue and official policy is legally tidy but politically evasive. Retired diplomats and generals attending Colombo meets are not private citizens, their past roles give their words weight, whether Delhi admits it or not. The narrative that Track-2 is harmless backchannel chatter ignores how Pakistan often uses such forums to project normalisation without ending cross-border terrorism. On Indus Waters, the abeyance continues. The real test will come when a new government in Islamabad offers a verifiable end to state-sponsored terror, will Delhi then resume talks, or keep shifting goalposts?
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
