For almost a decade, India’s Pakistan policy has rested on one uncompromising principle: terror and talks cannot go together. Following the Pulwama terror attack, the Balakot air strikes, the abrogation of Article 370, the downgrading of diplomatic relations, the suspension of trade and visas, and most recently the military confrontation following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor in 2025, official engagement between New Delhi and Islamabad virtually came to a halt.
Against this backdrop, recent statements by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale advocating dialogue with the people of Pakistan have drawn widespread attention. For an organisation long associated with a hardline nationalist position on Pakistan, the change in tone is remarkable. Even more intriguing is that these remarks have coincided with reports of quiet diplomatic engagement involving Indian and Pakistani officials, retired military officers and strategic experts in Colombo.
Although the Government of India has firmly denied that the Colombo meeting constituted any form of official dialogue, the timing has fuelled speculation that a strategic recalibration may be underway. Is the RSS preparing an ideological ground for shift in India’s Pakistan policy?The answer appears to lie at the intersection of ideology, strategic realism and a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape.
Colombo: The Return of Quiet Diplomacy
Former diplomats, retired military commanders and political representatives from India and Pakistan met in Colombo on the sidelines of a regional security conference organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The Indian delegation reportedly included former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane, India Foundation president Ram Madhav and former diplomat Ruchi Ghanashyam. Pakistan was represented by senior Foreign Ministry official Sajjad Haider Khan, former ambassador Sherry Rehman and retired Major General Isfandiyar Ali Khan Pataudi.
According to participants and media reports, discussions centred on familiar yet highly sensitive issues – cross-border terrorism, water-sharing disputes, crisis communication mechanisms and ways to prevent military escalation during periods of heightened tension.
Such interactions fall under what diplomats describe as Track-II or Track-1.5 diplomacy – informal channels through which retired officials, scholars, military veterans and, at times, serving bureaucrats exchange ideas outside the constraints of formal negotiations. Historically, these forums have often served as laboratories for exploring future diplomatic possibilities.
The Ministry of External Affairs was quick to distance itself from the Colombo meeting. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri described it as a private event organised by private individuals and reiterated that there was no official Indian participation. He also reaffirmed New Delhi’s long-standing position that terrorism and dialogue cannot proceed simultaneously.Yet history shows that many diplomatic breakthroughs have begun through precisely such unofficial conversations.
RSS Signals a New Tone
When RSS leader Hosabale publicly argues that India should keep communication channels open with Pakistan, and that position is subsequently endorsed by RSS chiefBhagwat, the remarks acquire significance far beyond ordinary political commentary.Within the Sangh Parivar, major ideological positions seldom emerge spontaneously. Hosabale’s intervention, followed by Bhagwat’s endorsement, has therefore been widely interpreted as a carefully considered institutional position rather than an individual opinion.
Given that the RSS remains the BJP’s principal ideological mentor, any noticeable shift in its public discourse naturally raises questions about whether it is preparing political and ideological space for future policy adjustments by theModi government.Interestingly, RSS leaders insist that there has been no ideological shift.
Hosabale justified engagement with Pakistan by reiterating one of the organisation’s oldest beliefsthat the people of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh belong to a common civilisational family, sharing ancestry, history and cultural traditions. The RSS continues to reject the Two-Nation Theory that provided the ideological foundation for Partition.
Its offices still display maps of Akhand Bharat, portraying the Indian subcontinent,including present-day Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, as a single civilisational entity.From the RSS’s perspective, engaging with the people of Pakistan is therefore not a concession but a reaffirmation of its long-held belief that political borders cannot erase a shared civilisational heritage.
Whether one accepts this ideological formulation or not, it provides the intellectual framework through which the RSS now seeks to justify dialogue.
A Changed Geopolitical Environment
If the ideological foundation remains unchanged, the geopolitical environment certainly hasn’t.Only months before Operation Sindoor,Bhagwat had argued that Pakistan deserved a strong lesson for sponsoring terrorism. The BJP’s election campaign subsequently celebrated India’s military response, projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the embodiment of decisive national leadership. Global developments, however, have altered strategic calculations.
The Russia-Ukraine war demonstrated that modern conflicts rarely produce quick or decisive victories. The subsequent US-Iran confrontation reinforced the same lesson. Even militarily superior powers have struggled to convert battlefield successes into lasting political outcomes.These developments appear to have encouraged greater strategic realism within sections of the Sangh leadership.
As one senior BJP leader observed, while military preparedness remains indispensable, war alone can no longer resolve complex geopolitical disputes. Once initiated, conflicts can become prolonged, economically draining and strategically unpredictable.
Pakistan’s Renewed Strategic Relevance
Perhaps the most important factor behind the RSS’s changing tone is Pakistan’s evolving geopolitical significance.Defence analyst Pravin Sawhney has argued that following Operation Sindoor, Pakistan’s geopolitical profile has risen considerably. Islamabad’s role as a mediator between Iran and the United States has further enhanced its international standing.
For several years, India’s strategy sought to diplomatically isolate Pakistan by highlighting its support for cross-border terrorism. While New Delhi succeeded in shaping international opinion to a considerable extent, recent geopolitical developments have complicated that strategy.
The Gulf crisis, tensions involving Iran, instability in Afghanistan and renewed American strategic engagement in West Asia have once again increased Pakistan’s importance.
Situated at the crossroads of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, Pakistan has regained strategic relevance in Washington’s regional calculations. Many strategic analysts believe Islamabad has recovered diplomatic space that had diminished over the past several years.
Within sections of the RSS and the BJP’s strategic establishment, this changing reality appears to have prompted a reassessment of whether prolonged diplomatic disengagement continues to serve India’s long-term interests.
The Limits of Isolation
Since 2019, India’s Pakistan policy has rested on diplomatic pressure, economic disengagement and strategic isolation.Trade remains suspended. High Commissioners have not returned to their respective capitals. Visa restrictions continue, and people-to-people exchanges have virtually disappeared.
Yet despite these measures, cross-border tensions have persisted. Pakistan, meanwhile, has deepened its strategic partnership with China, expanded engagement with Gulf states and regained international attention because of shifting regional priorities.
Many Indian strategic thinkers now privately acknowledge that diplomatic isolation alone cannot permanently resolve bilateral disputes.
A Broader Foreign Policy Recalibration
The evolving approach towards Pakistan also coincides with India’s gradual normalisation of relations with China after years of military tensions following the 2020 Galwan clashes.Equally noteworthy has been the relative silence of RSS-affiliated organisations that had previously spearheaded aggressive ‘Boycott China’ campaigns.Taken together, these developments suggest that sections of the Sangh Parivar are embracing a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy – one that recognises the need to balance ideological commitments with strategic realities.
Winning the Global Narrative
Another dimension of the RSS’s evolving strategy is its increasing engagement with international audiences at a time when its ideology and activities are under greater global scrutiny. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has once again recommended sanctions against the RSS, adding to international criticism.
As part of its centenary celebrations, the organisation has expanded its outreach to foreign diplomats, think-tanks and global opinion-makers. Hosabale’s visit to Washington, interactions with institutions such as the Hudson Institute and the participation of foreign diplomats in RSS events all reflect a conscious effort to reshape international perceptions.
Within this broader diplomatic outreach, advocating dialogue with Pakistan enables the RSS to project India as a confident power willing to pursue peace from a position of strength rather than weakness.
Civil Society Also Wants Engagement
Calls for renewed engagement are no longer confined to retired diplomats and strategic experts.A broad group of eminent citizens from both India and Pakistan,including former foreign ministers, diplomats, journalists, academics, retired military officers and political leaders, has jointly appealed to Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif to restore structured dialogue. The appeal was issued by the Forum for Peace and Progress.
Their recommendations include restoring diplomatic relations, resuming visa services, reopening trade, reviving transport links, facilitating religious pilgrimages and restarting comprehensive bilateral negotiations.
Whether the two neighbours respond positively remains uncertain. Nevertheless, the appeal reflects a growing recognition across South Asia that decades of hostility have imposed enormous economic, humanitarian and developmental costs on nearly two billion people.
Preparing the Political Ground
The Modi government faces an obvious political challenge.For years, the BJP has built substantial electoral capital around its muscular Pakistan policy. Operation Sindoor further reinforced Prime Minister Modi’s image as a leader unwilling to compromise on national security.Any future diplomatic initiative could therefore invite accusations of inconsistency from political opponents as well as sections of the BJP’s own support base. This is where the RSS may be playing a crucial political role.
By reframing dialogue as compatible with nationalism rather than contradictory to it, the organisation can provide the ideological legitimacy necessary for any future diplomatic opening.
In effect, the Sangh appears to be preparing its constituency before the government prepares its policy.
Whether the RSS has executed a genuine U-turn remains open to interpretation.Its leaders insist that their core philosophy has never changed. Their belief in the civilisational unity of the subcontinent remains intact.What has changed, they argue, is the strategic environment.
Critics, however, contend that the contrast between yesterday’s rhetoric of punishment and today’s language of engagement amounts to a significant policy reversal.Perhaps both perspectives contain elements of truth.
The Road Ahead
India-Pakistan relations have rarely followed a linear trajectory. Every period of confrontation has eventually been followed by renewed attempts at engagement, only to be interrupted by fresh crises. The Composite Dialogue Process launched in 1997 survived the Kargil conflict, military standoffs and political upheavals before ultimately collapsing after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Today, the RSS’s softer rhetoric, the quiet Colombo conversations, Pakistan’s renewed geopolitical relevance, India’s broader diplomatic recalibration and growing advocacy for engagement by retired officials and civil society together point towards a subtle but potentially significant shift.Whether this culminates in a formal resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue remains uncertain.What is increasingly evident, however, is that even within the RSS, the vocabulary of absolute confrontation is gradually giving way to the language of cautious engagement.
If this trend continues, the RSS’s evolving discourse may prove to be less an ideological U-turn than the first public indication of a wider strategic reassessment in New Delhi – one shaped not by sentiment, but by the hard realities of an increasingly volatile world.