Overview
- Reports said delegates from India and Pakistan held separate Track 2 discussions on the margins of the IISS South Asia Dialogue in Colombo this week, covering terrorism, cross‑border river water sharing and crisis communications.
- Hindustan Times and other outlets named figures such as Ram Madhav, former army chief Gen. M.M. Naravane and Pakistani representatives including Sajjad Haider Khan and Sherry Rehman as participants in the Colombo interactions.
- Ram Madhav publicly rejected the Track 2 characterisation on June 27, saying he only spoke at one session of the broader IISS regional conference and calling the reports a "complete spin."
- Indian officials reiterated there are no formal government talks and restated the policy that terrorism and official talks cannot be linked, even as a separate DGMO military hotline continues regular contact.
- The Colombo event is part of a string of unofficial Track 1.5/Track 2 meetings since the May 2025 confrontation that are intended to reduce misperception, but critics question their strategic value without concrete Pakistani steps on terrorism.