India, Pakistan ‘held multiple back-channel talks’ after Operation Sindoor

At least four off-record meetings have reportedly been convened across London, Muscat, Thailand and Doha

India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, along with Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, holds a press briefing following India's military strikes on Pakistan, in New Delhi, India, May 7, 2025. REUTERS

Indian and Pakistani strategic experts, parliamentarians, and former diplomats have participated in at least four back-channel meetings since the high-intensity conflict in May 2025.

The first of these engagements took place just two months after Operation Sindoor, according to the Hindustan Times.

The Delhi-based newspaper said while two of the sessions were Track 1.5 meetings -- featuring a mix of serving and retired officials -- the other two were Track 2 dialogues.

People familiar with the matter told the daily that the most recent engagement was a Track 2 meeting held in Doha, Qatar, this February, facilitated by a UK-based think tank.

Indian officials have not yet responded to requests for comment on these developments.

Formal contact between the nuclear-armed neighbours remains virtually non-existent following the four-day conflict from May 7 to 10 last year.

The hostilities, which involved drone and missile strikes, were sparked by India's Operation Sindoor, launched in retaliation for a terror attack in Pahalgam.

The Hindustan Times noted that ties hit a decades-long low after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and implemented punitive diplomatic measures.

The first Track 1.5 meeting was held in London in July 2025, facilitated by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

While the Pakistani delegation included serving military officials, India did not send any serving personnel to that session.

This was followed by another IISS-facilitated Track 1.5 meeting in Muscat, Oman, in October 2025.

Sources described the London interactions as "intense”, though subsequent talks in the series have reportedly been more "mellowed and measured”.

In December, experts and academics also gathered in Thailand for "The Chao Track", a Track 2 meeting formerly known as the Chaophraya Dialogue.

The newspaper said these engagements, including the later session in Doha, were kept strictly confidential given the “extreme strain” on bilateral relations.

It highlighted that while roughly 20 Track 2 contacts once existed between the two nations, only about a dozen remain active.

It is reported that these clandestine channels serve an essential purpose by keeping communication open and allowing both sides to gauge the diplomatic temperature.