Time and again, Pakistan has broken India’s trust. Decades of Pakistan-orchestrated terror attacks on India, have repeatedly derailed relations between New Delhi and Islamabad. Now, even as Operation Sindoor, which started in May 2025, is on and India remains steadfast in its stance on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said that “India should always be ready to engage in dialogue with Pakistan”.
Reacting to Hosabale’s remark, former Chief of Staff of the Indian Army, Manoj Mukund Naravane, said that he believed that “dialogue and people-to-people engagement” were among the few pathways left to prevent India-Pakistan ties from collapsing completely.
The Congress party criticised Hosabale for his remark. Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh took a jibe at the RSS leader for his remark on Pakistan. Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari questioned what had changed between the Pahalgam attack and now, that the RSS leader warranted a dialogue with Pakistan.
The RSS General Secretary, and number two, Dattatreya Hosabale, on Tuesday said India must continue taking a firm stand against Pakistan and cross-border terrorism, but also emphasised that channels for dialogue should remain open.
“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,” Hosabale said in a podcast with news agency PTI.
RSS leader Hosabale called Pakistan a “pinprick” and said trust in Pakistan’s political and military leadership remained absent because of repeated terror attacks, including 26/11, Pulwama, and Pahalgam terror attacks.
“Pakistan is like a pinprick, trying to create incidents like Pulwama and Pahalgam. We have to answer appropriately according to the situation, because the security and self-respect of a country and nation have to be protected,” Hosabale said.
Hosabale urged the “government of the day”, which is led by the BJP — the party that considers the RSS as its ideological fountainhead — to take note and take care of Pakistan’s terror.
Reacting to the statements of Hosabale, former Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane highlighted the importance of maintaining talks and people-to-people ties between India and Pakistan.
“People-to-people connections and contacts are very important. Common people live on both sides of the border and face similar problems in daily life. When friendship develops between people of two countries, it helps improve relations as well,” Naravane told news agency PTI on Wednesday.
Naravane also asserted that India believes in peace, but should use military force if it becomes necessary against Pakistan’s terrorist activities.
“That does not mean we cannot use military force if necessary. India is a country that believes in speaking the language of peace, but if the need arises, we will not hesitate to use our strength and capabilities as well,” he said.
HOSABALE REMEMBERS VAJPAYEE’S ATTEMPT FOR DIPLOMACY WITH PAKISTAN
In the podcast, Hosabale remembered the initiatives taken during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who, the RSS leader said, had pursued diplomacy while simultaneously taking a stand against terrorism. Hosabale said that Vajpayee had travelled to Lahore by bus as part of efforts to maintain engagement with Pakistan 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. Our [current] prime minister also invited Pakistan at the time of taking oath,” Hosabale recounted.
Hosabale also addressed the possible resumption of sporting ties as a sign of hope.
He added that he strongly believed that civil society relations between India and Pakistan could still play a constructive role because the two countries share deep cultural connections and a common history.
CONGRESS JIBES AT HOSABALE, SAYS TOUR TO THE US CHANGED RSS’ VISION
The Congress party, which considers the RSS as its ideological enemy, didn’t hold back in criticising Hosabale for his remark.
Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh took a jibe at RSS number two’s remarks on Pakistan.
“It appears that the recent US trip of Shri Hosabale, during which one of his colleagues admitted to the PM doing what the US wanted him to do, has impacted him as well as the RSS,” Ramesh wrote on X on Wednesday, sharing the clip of Hosabale’s podcast.
Congress leader Manish Tewari questioned what had changed between the Pahalgam attack and now, that the RSS leader warranted a dialogue with Pakistan. He wondered whether the RSS was being nudged by a “hyperpower” that, he said, today beholden to Pakistan for all the wrong reasons.
“What has materially changed between the Baisaran massacre on April 22, 2025, and May 12, 2026, when the gentleman [Hosabale] in question ostensibly gave this interview?” Tewari questioned.
“Has Pakistan given any concrete assurances that it will adhere to the commitments that were given earlier by their respective Prime Ministers and military dictators, that Pakistan will eschew the use of terror as an instrument of state policy? I see no such commitment which has been reported anywhere in any section of the press or commented upon by any strategist expert of consequence,” he added.
“…Is the government or its extended instrumentalities being egged on by a hyperpower, which is now beholden to Pakistan for all the wrong reasons, to start engaging with them? Therefore, is there an externality in terms of pressure?” asked Tewari, the MP from Chandigarh.
The remarks by Hosabale and Naravane on Pakistan, and the Congress’ criticism of the RSS leader, come at a time when India-Pakistan ties remain strained, more so, after the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s military strikes on Pakistani terror hideouts through Operation Sindoor.
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