Nawaz Sharif urges India and Pakistan to 'bury' the past, calls for positive future relations

The ties between India and Pakistan came under severe strain after India's warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot in Pakistan in February 2019 in response to the Pulwama terror attack. The trade ties between Islamabad and New Delhi have remained suspended since 2019.

India-Pakistan relations: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for India and Pakistan to "bury" their past differences and move forward as good neighbours. He also described Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's recent visit to Islamabad for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conclave as an "opening" for improved ties. In an interaction with Indian journalists in Lahore, the three-time former Prime Minister and current president of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) expressed disappointment over the prolonged strain in bilateral relations. He voiced hope that both countries would adopt a positive approach and work towards a better future.

On Tuesday (October 15), Jaishankar travelled to Islamabad for a nearly 24-hour trip to attend the SCO conclave, becoming the first Indian External Affairs Minister to visit Pakistan in the last nine years amid continuing strain in ties. 

What did Nawaz Sharif say? 

"This is how things should go ahead. We would have liked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come but it was good that the Indian foreign minister came. I have said before that we must pick up the threads of our conversation," said Sharif, the elder brother of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. "We have spent 70 years in this way (fighting) and we should not let this go on for the next 70 years," he added. "Both sides should sit down and discuss how to go forward...We can’t change our neighbours, neither can Pakistan nor can India...We should live like good neighbours," the former Pakistan PM added. 

India maintains 'talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand'

There was no bilateral meeting between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers during the SCO conclave in Islamabad, with India's participation strictly limited to attending the multilateral gathering. For New Delhi, the focus was on the official SCO agenda, not on bilateral engagements with Pakistan. However, some senior Pakistani officials have described the Indian minister's visit as an "ice-breaker," sparking speculation about future diplomacy between the two nations. Despite this, India has maintained its stance of not engaging in bilateral talks with Pakistan since 2016, following a series of terror attacks on Indian soil by Pakistan-based groups. India continues to assert that "talks and terror cannot go hand-in-hand," reaffirming its position on the matter.

Nawaz Sharif on cricketing ties between India and Pakistan

Nawaz Sharif held former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for deterioration in relations between the two countries and especially referred to certain comments made by the cricketer-turned-politician against Prime Minister Modi. "Imran Khan used words that destroyed the relationship - as leaders of the two countries and neighbours, we should not even think, let alone utter such words," he said. In his remarks, Sharif also pitched for the resumption of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan and even said that he would like to travel to India if the two teams play in the final of any major tournament in the neighbouring country.

(With inputs from PTI)

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