India and Pakistan should move past the past, with Jaishankar’s visit as a ‘beginning’: Nawaz Sharif

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Calls for Bilateral Trade and Connectivity

• Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urges India and Pakistan to move on from the “past” and “pick up the threads” of the conversation with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Sharif believes the visit by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a “beginning” and hopes for an “opening”.
• He advocates for bilateral trade and connectivity, focusing on tackling climate change and energy shortage.
• He plans to meet with both leaders at the COP Summit in November.
• Sharif blames the poor state of ties on Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan for making personal statements about Modi.
• He declined to respond to questions about contentious past issues, including the Pathankot terror attack and Pakistan’s objections to the 2019 re-organisation of Jammu and Kashmir and amendment of Article 370.
• Sharif supports the restoration of trade and travel ties, but acknowledges disagreements among the country’s population.