The visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Pakistan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting on October 16 has led to an early but positive shift in the troubled India-Pakistan bilateral ties. Speaking exclusively with India Today, Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hoped that with Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad, both India and Pakistan could put the past behind and tackle future problems like energy and climate change, among others.

Nawaz Sharif emphasised the importance of resuming the peace process between India and Pakistan, urging both nations not to let it be derailed. "We should pick up the threads from where we left," Sharif said, referencing decades of unresolved tensions between both countries.

He expressed his hope for greater engagement, noting, "75 years have passed like this. Let's not waste 75 more years."

Sharif also hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could come for the SCO meet, saying, "Would have loved for Modi to come."

"Can't change our neighbours. We should live like good neighbours," he added.

During his visit, Jaishankar, apart from attending the formal SCO meeting where he delivered India's statement, met with his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, a close aide of Nawaz Sharif.

While delivering the speech, Jaishankar took a veiled dig at Pakistan, saying that activities across borders marred by the "three evils" of terrorism, extremism, and separatism will not encourage trade, connectivity and energy flows.

"Our endeavours will progress only when our commitment to the Charter remains firm. As the Charter spelt out, this means being firm and uncompromising in countering the ‘three evils’. If activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel," Jaishankar said.

Source: India Today