Srinagar, June 27: Senior BJP leader and India Foundation president Ram Madhav on Saturday rejected a media report claiming he participated in fresh India-Pakistan Track 2 talks in Colombo, calling it a “complete spin to a non-story.”
Madhav said the event in question was the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ (IISS) annual South Asia Dialogue, attended by participants from several countries and not a bilateral Track 2 engagement.
In a post on X, Madhav wrote: “Totally wrong portrayal. It was not any track 2 dialogue. It was IISS annual South Asia Dialogue which was attended by scholars from India, Sri Lanka, US, UK, Afghanistan n Pakistan. Even officials attended this annual dialogue in d past. No track 2 is held with so many countries. I did not attend d 2-day dialogue. I was invited to speak at one session which I did n left. Complete spin to a non-story.”
The clarification came after the Hindustan Times reported that Indian and Pakistani delegations comprising politicians, retired military officials and diplomats held informal discussions on the sidelines of the IISS security conference in Colombo this week.
According to the report, the Indian delegation included Ram Madhav, former Army chief Gen. M.M. Naravane and former diplomat Ruchi Ghanashyam, while the Pakistani side comprised Foreign Ministry Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Sajjad Haider Khan, Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sherry Rehman and retired Maj. Gen. Isfandiyar Ali Khan Pataudi.
The newspaper reported that the Indian and Pakistani delegates held separate discussions over a day and a half at the Hilton Colombo. It said the talks covered issues including terrorism, sharing of waters of cross-border rivers, strengthening communications during crises and possible measures to manage and prevent escalation of tensions.
The report described the Colombo meeting as the latest in a series of back-channel contacts between the two countries since the May 2025 military conflict following the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor.
Quoting an unnamed Indian official, the Hindustan Times said the government maintained that there was “no official connection” to such contacts and reiterated its position that “terrorism and talks cannot go together.” The report also noted that attempts to portray the Colombo discussions as a Track 1.5 dialogue because of the participation of a serving Pakistani foreign ministry official were dismissed, as there were no serving Indian government officials at the meeting.
The newspaper further reported that the discussions did not produce any significant outcomes.
