Nawaz Sharif On PM Modi: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has extended a hand of friendship towards India. Sharif said on Thursday that India and Pakistan should forget the past and live like good neighbors. Sharif's remarks are being seen as an initiative to improve relations with India after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar visits Islamabad this week.

Speaking to a group of Indian journalists, the three-time prime minister and president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) described Jaishankar's visit as a "good beginning" and expressed hope that both sides will move forward with a positive attitude.

What did Nawaz Sharif say?

Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore in December 2015, Sharif said he was not happy with the prolonged stagnation in relations between the two countries and hoped that both sides would move forward with a positive attitude.

'We can't change our neighbors'

Nawaz (74) said, "We cannot change our neighbors, neither Pakistan nor India. We should remain like good neighbors." When asked if there is a need to build a "bridge" between the two countries, he said, "This is the role I am trying to play."

Jaishankar arrived in Islamabad on a nearly 24-hour visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference. This was the first visit of India's foreign minister to Pakistan in the last nine years amid the ongoing tension in relations between the two countries.

'It would have been better if PM Modi had come'

Nawaz, the elder brother of Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, said, 'Things should move forward like this. We wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to come, but it was good that the Indian Foreign Minister came. I have said earlier also that we should take our talks forward.'

'We should not fight for another 70 years'

He said, "We have spent 70 years like this (fighting) and we should not let it go on for the next 70 years... We (PML-N governments) have worked hard to make this relationship work. Both sides should sit and discuss how to move forward."

There was no bilateral meeting between the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers during the SCO summit. However, some senior officials in the Pakistani establishment say that Jaishankar's visit has thawed the long-standing ice in relations between the two countries.

'We must look to the future'

Nawaz Sharif described Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad as a good "beginning". Sharif said, "We should not go into the past and look towards the future. It would be better if we bury the past so that we can use the opportunities between the two countries."

Following several attacks on India by Pakistan-based terror groups in 2016, India decided not to hold any bilateral talks with Pakistan, saying that dialogue and terrorism cannot go together.

PM Modi visited Pakistan in 2015

Sharif also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore while returning from Kabul on December 25, 2015. He said, "When Prime Minister Modi called me from Kabul and wished me on my birthday, I said he was very welcome. He came and met my mother. This is not a small thing, it means something to us, especially to our countries. We should not ignore it."

The former prime minister advocated the resumption of cricketing ties between India and Pakistan and said he would like to visit India if the two teams play in the final of a major tournament in the neighboring country. Sharif also stressed the importance of trade relations between the two sides.