A senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader has advocated for reopening channels of dialogue with Pakistan to outrage from India’s opposition parties.
The RSS is a right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary organization seen as the ideological guiding force behind India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, considered the group’s second-most senior leader, told news agency PTI that India should continue diplomatic engagement with Pakistan. “India should always be ready to engage in dialogue with Pakistan. That is why diplomatic relations are maintained, trade and commerce continue, and visas are being given. So we should not stop these, because there should always be a window for dialogue,” he said.
Referring to past diplomatic efforts, he noted former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s outreach to Pakistan, including his Lahore bus visit, as an example of engagement despite tensions. “Everything has been tried, but more such efforts should continue. Atal ji tried to engage them in dialogue. He went to Lahore by bus, and many things have happened. [Modi] also invited Pakistan at the time of taking oath,” he said.
Supporting Hosabale, ex-Indian army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane also told media that people-to-people contacts were very important. “Common people live on both sides of the border and face similar problems in daily life,” he said, adding that friendships between the people of the neighboring countries could help improve ties.
Pakistan and India have had limited engagement since April 2025, when Delhi blamed Islamabad, without evidence, for an attack on tourists in the Pahalgam area of India-held Kashmir. In May 2025, India launched airstrikes inside Pakistan, killing civilians. The two states subsequently engaged in a 87-hour conflict during which Islamabad downed eight Indian fighter jets as well as dozens of drones.
The conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 with a ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States.