Final negotiations collapse

Who: Akali Dal leaders (Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, Parkash Singh Badal, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, Surjit Singh Barnala). Indian government side (Indira Gandhi; ministers P. V. Narasimha Rao, Pranab Mukherjee and Shiv Shankar).

What: Akali leaders and the government talked through the spring of 1984, aiming at a political settlement. The government's White Paper of 10 July 1984 lists secret meetings on 24 January, 27, 28 and 29 March, 21 April and 26 May, and says the detained Akali leaders were released on 14 May and invited to talks. The Tribune says the last meeting, on 26 May, came six days before the army was called out, and that the talks were inconclusive.

Akali Dal side:

• The morcha's core demand was the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. In late May, Wikipedia says (citing J. S. Grewal, 1998, p. 226), the Akalis showed signs of yielding, but Bhindranwale would accept nothing short of its full implementation.
• On 26 May Tohra told the government that he had failed to get Bhindranwale to agree to a peaceful resolution (Wikipedia).
• Wikipedia, citing Kaur (2020, p. 235), says non-governmental sources report that settlement terms were to be finalised on at least five occasions and that Indira Gandhi, not the Akalis, backed out each time.

Indian government side:

• The White Paper says it tried to persuade the Akali leaders to withdraw the agitation planned from 3 June, but "Akali Dal positions had hardened and no settlement could be reached".
• In her broadcast of 2 June, Indira Gandhi named river waters and territory as the two demands still open, and said the Akali Dal had accepted neither the transfer of areas to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh nor a commission to decide the whole dispute.

Negotiation collapse: A team led by Narasimha Rao tried to convince Bhindranwale to back out, but he was adamant, and "The negotiations failed" (Wikipedia). The White Paper says the government decided on 2 June to call in the army; Wikipedia says Indira Gandhi ordered it on 1 June "after abortive negotiations with the Akalis". Army formations were in Punjab by the early hours of 3 June (White Paper), and the assault on the Sri Harmandir Sahib complex came on the night of 5-6 June (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism).

Where: New Delhi and Chandigarh (the meetings); Amritsar (Akali internal coordination).

Why it mattered: These were the last talks before Operation Blue Star. Wikipedia, citing Dhillon (2006, p. 167), reports that Indira Gandhi's principal secretary, P. C. Alexander, named Longowal's announced withholding of grain and taxes from 3 June as the decisive factor in sending in the army.