Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday said goodwill gestures, such as his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s sudden visit to Lahore, are the “solution to many an ill”. Speaking to reporters in Balochistan, Sharif thanked Modi for his visit on his 66th birthday, and said it was “high time the countries put aside their hostilities”, PTI reported.

Sharif expressed confidence that bilateral ties between the two sparring countries would improve and that they would restart a dialogue. On Tuesday Sharif’s external affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz said the foreign secretaries of the two countries would meet on January 14 and 15 to prepare for dialogues on Kashmir and other pending problems.

On December 25, Modi had stopped over in Lahore on his way back to India from a visit to Afghanistan in a move that left the international community bemused. He visited Sharif’s house on the occasion of his birthday as well as his granddaughter’s wedding.