Salman Khurshid's Conditional Unconditional Talks

In August 2013, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told India Today that talks with Pakistan could not be unconditional, while simultaneously insisting that dialogue could not be stopped. The formulation captured the essential tension in the UPA government's Pakistan policy: firm in principle, flexible in practice.

The statement came against a backdrop of continued cross-border violence along the Line of Control. Just days earlier, Pakistani soldiers had crossed the LoC and killed five Indian Army soldiers in the Poonch sector, triggering calls from opposition parties and sections of the military establishment to suspend engagement entirely.

Khurshid's position was that India had "taken it up very strongly" with Pakistan while maintaining that the channel of dialogue must remain open. What "taking it up very strongly" had produced in concrete terms was not specified.

The UPA's two terms were characterised by this recurring cycle: an incident on the border or a terror attack, strong language from New Delhi, assurances of firmness, and then a return to the table. The pattern was consistent enough that critics argued it had become predictable to Islamabad.