Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday said India and Pakistan have fought enough and both have no option but to live in peace.
He asked Islamabad to join him in his attempt at forging a new world.
"Let us walk and live together. If we have to fight, we have to fight against poverty and unemployment but not with each other. We have fought wars and seen the results too," Vajpayee said.
"We have no option but to live in peace with our neighbours," he said. "Friends can be changed but not neighbours."
"At the same time, the country's interests will be kept in mind," Vajpayee told a conference of minorities organised by BJP in Delhi.
People from both India and Pakistan are now visiting each other and this should continue. "If walls cannot be brought down, at least the windows should be kept open and if that is not possible, then one should see each other through the ventilators," he said.
"There is peace on the borders which was never seen for years. Bullets are not being fired. When soldiers from both sides come face to face, they now shake hands....people want peace in both countries," he said.