The visit of India's foreign minister to Pakistan earlier this week was a "good beginning" that could lead to a thaw in relations between the two rivals, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was quoted as saying by Indian media on Friday.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif greeted each other with a handshake and sombre expressions at the start of an official dinner for the visiting leaders of the SCO bloc on Tuesday.

First visit by an Indian Foreign Minister to Pakistan in nearly nine years comes amid strained ties between the countries

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday in the first such visit in almost a decade for a meeting of governments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, with the capital city under tight lockdown.

He said former Pakistan PM Imran Khan used words that destroyed the relationship. As leaders of two countries and neighbours, we should not even think let alone utter such words.

Nawaz Sharif, who doesn’t hold any position in the Pakistan government, talked to Indian journalists and urged both sides to ‘now move forward’.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called for renewed efforts to mend ties with India. He described External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent visit to Islamabad for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting as a “good opening” and an opportunity for both nations to move beyond their troubled history.