As EAM S Jaishankar visits Pakistan for SCO summit, Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hopes that the two neighbouring countries are able put the past behind and strengthen their relationship and he also wishes that PM Narendra Modi visits Pakistan one day.
Speaking to India Today, Sharif urged both nations, "We should pick up the threads from where we left. 75 years have passed like this. Let's not waste 75 more years."
Sharif mentioned that he hoped to meet PM Modi during the SCO summit, saying, "Would have loved for Modi to come. Can't change our neighbours. We should live like good neighbours."
Jaishankar recently visited Pakistan to participate in the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government.
During the visit, Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar held casual conversations on two occasions. The conversations took place on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), but there was no indication of any thaw in the frosty bilateral relations, sources said.
Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar described Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad as an "ice breaker".
A pull-aside meeting took place between Jaishankar and Dar at a dinner reception hosted by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at his residence for the SCO delegates last evening, the sources said.
However, no discussions regarding the resumption of cricket ties between India and Pakistan took place, according to sources.
Since 2008's Asia Cup, India has not played any cricket tournaments in Pakistan due to tense relationships between both nations because of terrorism.
A series played from December 2012 to January 2013 in India marked the final bilateral series between the two nations. Since then, both nations have only clashed at ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup. On the other hand, Pakistan travelled to India on three occasions since the 2008 Asia Cup.
