“I have already advised Shehbaz Sharif, and I will give the same advice to him that he should congratulate whoever becomes the new Indian prime minister, but we should not take the initiative for negotiations,” he said while appearing on the Aaj News show Rubaroo.

He was asked about the Indian elections which concluded on Monday. According to the results, Narendra Modi had the majority, but no landslide as he was campaigning.

His opponent Rahul Gandi claimed that the Congress was not contesting the election not just against the BJP but also the intelligence agencies, half of the judiciary, and the governance.

“If we have to move forward and go ahead, it is ‘India’s weight, not our burden’,” Dastgir said.

While speaking about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s China trip, he said that the government would make efforts to “restore” Islamabad’s relationship with Beijing.

Dastgir claimed that the trust and confidence in China-Pakistan ties had been damaged during the previous PTI government’s tenure. “For four years, no work could be done on CPEC. During that time, China decided to only work on the projects that were started under the PML-N government and refused further investment,” he said.

He expressed hope that the new PML-N-led government would be able to rebuild the trust with China. “The PDM government also worked a lot on restoring confidence with China,” he said.