Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif has called for India and Pakistan to “bury the past” and resume dialogue, following Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad earlier this week.
Speaking to Indian journalists after the visit, Sharif, who has served three terms as prime minister, said it was time for both countries to engage constructively.
Sharif hailed Jaishankar’s trip, which took place as part of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, as a “good opening” for easing the strained relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
Jaishankar's 24-hour visit marked the first time an Indian foreign minister had set foot in Pakistan in nine years, a visit that Sharif hopes can serve as a springboard for further dialogue.
“We can’t change our neighbours, neither can Pakistan nor can India. We should live like good neighbours,” Sharif said, emphasising the need for both sides to look ahead with a positive approach.
“We have spent 70 years in this way (fighting), and we should not let this go on for the next 70 years... Both sides should sit down and discuss how to go forward,” he added.
Sharif also expressed disappointment over the extended break in India-Pakistan relations since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore in December 2015. "I was not happy with the long pause in our ties. Both countries should now move forward," he said.
Blaming former prime minister Imran Khan for contributing to the breakdown in relations, Sharif pointed to Khan’s aggressive rhetoric against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to a post by Imran Khan in 2018, he said: “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.”
Sharif also voiced his desire to play a role in mending relations between India and Pakistan, underlining the importance of resuming trade and cricket between the two nations. “These can help thaw the icy relationship,” he noted.
Trade between the two countries has been suspended since 2019 following India’s imposition of heavy duties on Pakistani imports after the Pulwama attack. Sharif said reopening trade and sports ties could help restore trust between the two nations.
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