In Arshad Nadeem, India's Neeraj Chopra will have tough competition for the javelin gold medal at the Paris Olympics, but the Pakistani ace says for now both are just "very happy" to call the shots in a sport once dominated by the Europeans.

Nadeem bagged silver in the men's javelin throw final in Budapest on Sunday, as Olympic champion Chopra won the gold medal.

"Neeraj and I have a very healthy competition and we respect each other a lot. There is no Pakistan-India rivalry in a bad way. When we talk, we are just happy that both of us have come to the fore in a competition usually dominated by Europeans," Nadeem said.

After the final on Sunday, Chopra made it a point to invite his Pakistani rival to go on a victory lap.

"It is a very satisfying achievement for me to get a distance of 87.82 metres as I returned to international competition after nearly a year due to my elbow surgery," he said.

For Nadeem, it has been a long journey from his village in Mian Chunnu in Pakistan's Punjab province where his elder brothers and school's sports master forced him to take up athletics. "I wanted to be a cricketer but my brothers and sports master told me I had the physique and stamina to be a top athlete," he said.

"I want to win an Olympic gold for my country. It will require a lot of hard work, training and the best equipment."