Victoria: India on Monday junked reports on any Track 2 discussions involving New Delhi and Islamabad, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri making it clear that any private events organised by private parties without any official participation or involvement do not hold much value.
When asked about reports about Track 2 engagement between India and Pakistan, Misri responded, “I have seen the reports. I am aware of them. Dozens of these kinds of events take place in dozens of places around the world on a whole variety of subjects. So, there’s nothing new, nothing special about these events. Secondly, as far as we are concerned, these are private events organised by private parties. There is nothing official about them as far as we are concerned.”
He stated that individuals participating in these events expressed their point of view and do not represent the views of the Indian government. The government, he said, does not attaches importance to such interactions.
“Obviously, I cannot speak for the Government of Pakistan, but as far as the Government of India is concerned, there is no official participation, no official support or involvement in these visits. Should be obvious therefore that anybody from India who is participating in these events, whether it is retired diplomats, retired military officials, or members of civil society, who are all distinguished individuals in their own right that when they participate in such events, they speak for themselves and they represent their own point of view. They do not in any way, they cannot in any way represent the view of the Government of India, that’s the other important thing to keep in mind. We really take no cognisance of these events. They really don’t hold much value, as far as we are concerned,” Misri added.
His remarks came after media reports claimed about Track 2 discussions involving delegations of India and Pakistan being held on the sidelines of a security conference organised by International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Colombo recently. The reports claimed that former Army Chief General M M Naravane and BJP leader Ram Madhav were among the politicians, retired diplomats and military officials, who participated in the meeting.
Ram Madhav had categorically rejected such reports, terming them as a “totally wrong portrayal” and a “complete spin to a non-story”.
“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,” he posted on X.
(IANS)
