Talks And Terrorism Cannot Go Together: Ram Madhav On Why There Is No Track-2 With Pakistan

Published 4 July 2026 · local

Talks And Terrorism Cannot Go Together: Ram Madhav On Why There Is No Track-2 With Pakistan Published By, Last Updated: July 04, 2026, 11:36 IST

Talks And Terrorism Cannot Go Together: Ram Madhav On Why There Is No Track-2 With Pakistan Published By, Last Updated: July 04, 2026, 11:36 IST Calling the Track-2 buzz a disinformation campaign, Ram Madhav said India had no reason to engage Pakistan while terror infrastructure remained active. Rapid Read India Foundation President and BJP leader Ram Madhav. (Image: X/@rammadhav_) Amid speculation over a possible Track-2 dialogue between India and Pakistan after a recent conference in Colombo, Ram Madhav has dismissed the buzz as a disinformation campaign and said New Delhi has no reason to resume engagement with Islamabad while Pakistan continues to use terrorism as a state instrument. Writing in an op-ed for The Indian Express, Madhav, a senior BJP leader and president of the India Foundation, said the recent buzz around a “fictitious" Track-2 channel between India and Pakistan appeared to be a case of Psyop, or psychological operations, aimed at creating suspicion and confusion. He said the claim was picked up by sections of mainstream and social media in India without verifying what the Colombo meeting actually was. At the centre of the controversy was an annual South Asia conference hosted by a London-based think tank. Madhav said the event has been held for more than a decade and is attended by scholars, former diplomats, military and intelligence veterans, and occasionally politicians and serving officials from several countries.

According to him, the Colombo conference had participants from the US, the UK, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. That, he argued, made it a multilateral academic event, not a bilateral India-Pakistan Track-2 dialogue. Madhav also cited Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s clarification that the conference was not part of Track-2 diplomacy. He said Track-2 diplomacy refers to a bilateral dialogue channel that has the tacit approval of governments, and does not involve representatives from several countries. ‘Pakistan Wanted Engagement, India Did Not Reciprocate’ Madhav said he addressed one session at the Colombo conference and left. While the Pakistani side appeared eager for a formal engagement with India, he said that sentiment was not reciprocated. Explaining India’s position, Madhav pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier outreach to Pakistan. PM Modi had invited then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to his oath-taking ceremony in 2014 and later made an unscheduled visit to Lahore in 2015. However, Madhav said Pakistan responded to those gestures with the Uri and Pulwama terror attacks, after which the Modi government decided to shut down most forms of direct engagement with Islamabad. He argued that Pakistan is frustrated by India’s refusal to engage, especially as New Delhi continues to deepen ties with major global powers while ignoring Islamabad’s overtures.