Bhubaneswar, Dec 10 (IANS): Pakistan High Commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood on Monday said organising events like Men's Hockey World Cup in the subcontinent would help India and Pakistan regain the past glory in the sport.

"There was a time when either India or Pakistan would reach the finals of any hockey tournament... It's a past now. I think hockey is reviving in South Asia. In the days ahead, I hope the two countries will regain their glory," said Mahmood.

Sohail, who watched a match between Pakistan and the Netherlands at Kalinga Stadium here on Sunday, hoped that there will be opportunities to play matches between India and Pakistan teams in future.

Pakistan lost the game 5-1 against the Netherlands.

The Pakistani envoy on Monday met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. He congratulated the Chief Minister for successfully hosting the Men's Hockey World Cup 2018.

"I congratulated the Chief Minister and the people of Bhubaneswar as well as Odisha for hosting the hockey world cup. It's the reason for me to come over here. It is a great contribution to the cause of hockey and promotion of the game," he added.

He also said that Odisha has acquired a very important place in hockey, sports, development of industries and in many other fields.

"We also briefly spoke about collaboration that can possibly take place in terms of enhancing people to people exchanges, tourism, etc," he added.