New Delhi. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that the recently concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit could prove to be a new beginning towards improving relations between Pakistan and India. This is the second time in a week that a senior leader of Pakistan advocated friendship with India. External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar participated in the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of SCO held in Islamabad on 15 and 16 October. This was the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in a long time. A political consensus seems to be emerging in Pakistan to improve relations with India. Perhaps Pakistani rulers have understood the reality that good relations with India are the guarantee of a better future for their country. Speaking to Indian journalists about India-Pakistan relations, Nawaz, who leads the ruling PML-N and has been the country’s prime minister three times, said the improvement in relations between the two neighbors would lead to development in many areas, The Express Tribune reported. The path to progress may open. Nawaz said that it would have been better if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended the SCO conference. He said the SCO summit can be a good beginning for Pakistan-India relations. If Pakistan-India relations are restored, a lot can change for the better. He said that the Indian cricket team should come to Pakistan to play the Champions Trophy. The former PM said that if you ask the Indian team, I am sure they will also say that they want to come to Pakistan and play.
However, Nawaz admitted that the past has been bitter. He said let’s see what happens in the future. Earlier on October 15, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Tuesday stressed the need to reach a consensus between the two countries, especially on the issues of climate change and terrorism. It is noteworthy that serious economic crisis, strained relations with Afghanistan, benefits from trade with India are some of the factors which are forcing Pakistan to improve relations with India. Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar indicated in March this year that Islamabad was keen to restart trade with New Delhi. Dar said Pakistan’s business community is very eager to resume direct trade. Dar’s party, Pakistan Muslim League-N, has a major support base of small capitalists and big industrialists. These sections have always seen their own and Pakistan’s benefit in normalizing trade relations with India. Pakistan, which is struggling with poverty, needs hard cash at this time and friendship with India can prove to be the solution to its problems in this matter.