PML-N President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday expressed optimism about restoring Pakistan’s ties with India and meeting with Indian premier Narendra Modi. The remarks, made during an interview with Indian journalist Barkha Dutt, come on the eve of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit being hosted in Islamabad, which Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is scheduled to attend.
“I have always been a supporter of good relations with India,” Nawaz told Dutt. “I hope that there is an opportunity to revive our relationship.”
The PML-N supremo did not agree to appear on camera but spoke to Dutt on record.
“It would have been a great thing if PM Modi had also attended the SCO summit here in Pakistan. I do hope that he (Modi) and us will have an opportunity to sit together in the not-so-distant future.”
Dutt reiterated that Jaishankar’s visit is multilateral and purely for the SCO summit, adding that both countries’ relations are in a “cold freeze”.
