Track II Diplomacy

Track II or non-official diplomacy has gained considerable attention in recent years as a mechanism for conflict resolution and peace building between countries. The phrase ‘Track II’ was coined by Joseph Montville of the Foreign Service Institute in the year 1982 to describe methods of diplomacy that fell outside the formal governmental system. According to him, Track II diplomacy is “unofficial, informal interaction between members of adversary groups or nations which aims to develop strategies, influence public opinion, and organize human and material resources in ways that might help resolve their conflict”. Dr Louise Diamond and Ambassador John McDonald wholater expanded non-official interactions into nine tracks define Track II as “the realm of professional non-governmental action attempting to analyse, prevent, resolve, and manage international conflicts by non-state actors.” However, current practice of Track II methods are neither limited to its narrowscope of conflict resolution nor limited to the members of adversary groups or nations. It has been utilised meaningfully to enlarge common grounds between the countries. This is especially true of Indo-US relations.