Govt says Track-2 dialogues with Pakistan outside its purview: ‘Individuals interacting in private capacity’

The Indian government clarified on Thursday that engagements between Indian and Pakistani think tanks and academicians, including Track-2 dialogues, fall outside its purview. These interactions occur in individuals' private capacity, and their views do not represent the government's stance, according to Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh.

Speaking during a Rajya Sabha question on the government's assessment of retired Indian diplomats, military officers, and civil society figures participating in Track-2 dialogues with their Pakistani counterparts, Singh emphasized that individual viewpoints are distinct from those of the Indian government. Track-2 dialogues involving experts such as retired military officials, diplomats, and politicians took place on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Colombo in June.

In another response, Singh noted that India and Pakistan continue to maintain diplomatic missions and conduct functional engagements, including discussions at the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) level, missile testing notifications, exchange of nuclear facility lists, and prisoner exchange. When asked if the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, suspended after the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack, remains in place and if India has received any communication from Pakistan on the matter, Singh stated that India has taken several diplomatic steps following the attack, including declaring the treaty in abeyance pending Pakistan's unequivocal renunciation of support for cross-border terrorism.

India initiated Operation Sindoor in May 2025 to retaliate against terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan following the attack, which saw 26 civilians killed in Pahalgam, attributed to The Resistance Front, a proxy group linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.