Nawaz Sharif says Jaishankar's Pakistan trip a 'good opening', fondly recalls PM Modi's 2015 visit

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said that the visit of external affairs minister S Jaishankar to Islamabad marks a "good opening" that could lead to a thaw in ties with India.

"This is how talks move forward. Talks should not stop," Sharif, the president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), and the brother of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, told a group of visiting Indian journalists.

The former premier also fondly recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan in 2015, saying it was not a "small gesture" by any means.

“I got a call from him saying he was in Kabul and wanted to visit me on his way back to India. I told him he was most welcome. He also met my mother during the visit. What he did wasn’t a chota (small) gesture,” Sharif was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Modi visited Pakistan on December 25, 2015, which coincided with Sharif's birthday.

Sharif lambasted ousted prime minister Imran Khan for trying to "destroy" healthy ties between the neighbours.

"Achhe bhare talukkat ko tabaah aur barbad karne waali baat ki (he worked to destroy a healthy relationship). I would have never used that kind of language. We believe in certain values that must be respected,” he told the journalists.

He encouraged India and Pakistan to now look foward and not be held back by the past.

However, he stopped short of commenting about resumption of trade or bilateral ties.

The former PM said that things will open up soon, TOI reported.

Jaishankar was among nearly a dozen leaders participating in the gathering in Islamabad, nearly a decade since an Indian foreign minister has visited amid frosty relations between the two nuclear powers.