New Delhi: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that both countries should “pick up the threads of their conversation” and move forward as good neighbors. Sharif praised the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, calling it a positive step. “We would have liked Mr Modi to come, but it was good that Mr Jaishankar came,” he said, stressing that dialog and collaboration should be the way forward.
In media conversations, Sharif reiterated the importance of not letting the next 70 years be marred by the conflicts of the past. He emphasized the need for both India and Pakistan to sit down and discuss their differences, adding that neither country could change its neighbors. He highlighted the potential of bilateral cooperation in areas like trade, industry, and electricity, reflecting on past conversations with former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He also spoke about the significance of personal gestures in diplomacy, recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pakistan in 2015 and how such moments should not be overlooked. “The past is the past. We should think of the next 75 years,” he said, urging for better ties between the two countries.
