ISLAMABAD: Condemning the recent killing of Muslims in the New Zealand mosques and increasing Islamophobia in the west, Pakistan and Malaysia on Friday reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate more closely on issues affecting the Muslim world, particularly on the issue of Palestine.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Malaysian counterpart Dr Mahathir Mohamad exchanged views on the situation concerning Muslims in Palestine, Myanmar and Kashmir. Both countries agreed to contribute positively at international forums, especially in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) committee of six on Palestine, of which Malaysia and Pakistan are members.

The Malaysian premier, who arrived here on Thursday evening on a three-day official visit, was conferred with Nishan-i-Pakistan, the highest civil award in the country, by President Arif Alvi at an investiture ceremony held at President House.

Dr Mahathir met PM Khan at the PM Office where delegation-level talks were held followed by the signing of five memorandums of understanding between the two sides in different fields. He will witness the Pakistan Day ceremony in Islamabad as chief guest on Saturday.

Two sides agree to collaborate on issues concerning Muslim world, ink five MoUs in different sectors; President confers Nishan-i-Pakistan on Dr Mahathir

During their meeting, PM Khan briefed his Malaysian counterpart on the grave human rights situation in Kashmir and in this regard referred to the reports of UN, Amnesty International, Interna­tional People’s Tribunal and All Parties Parliamentary Kashmir Group, the UK. They discussed the role of OIC Contact Group on Kashmir in highlighting the issue.

As representatives of the two peace-loving Islamic nations, Mr Khan and Dr Mahathir agreed to increase collaborative efforts to uphold the true values of Islam at international forums while strengthening the solidarity of the Muslim Ummah. They also decided to make joint efforts in underscoring Muslim sensitivities associated with holy personalities and Islamic beliefs. They stressed that terrorism could not be associated with any religion or belief.

Mr Khan stressed the need to change the mindset of the west that any crime of any individual Muslim was not the crime of the whole Muslim world. “It was reflected in recent attack in Christchurch in which a brazen terrorist filmed shooting of innocent Muslim worshipers,” he added.

The prime minister said unfortunately Muslim leaders did not take stance the way Dr Mahathir had taken on war on terror.

Talking about Islamophobia, Dr Mahathir questioned why 50 Muslims, including nine Pakistani and three Malaysians, had been killed in New Zealand a week ago. “This happened because of the feeling of hatred that has been generated by the press and others. We need to learn how to handle this and by not reacting on it,” he added.

Later talking to the media, Mr Khan said he and the whole Pakistani nation felt honoured on his [Dr Mahatir’s] visit to Pakistan on his invitation on the occasion of Pakistan Day. “We look upon you as a Muslim statesman who changed his country,” he said, adding that he admired him for the stand taken by Malaysia on issues concerning Muslims.

He said Pakistan felt pride the way Malaysia developed and came up like a modern countries of the world. He said both countries had decided to form a strong ministerial-level committee that would meet regularly to increase bilateral trade.

Admiring Dr Mahathir’s stance against corruption, PM Khan said the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) also started a campaign against corruption 22 years ago. “Corrupt elite commits corruption and siphoned off money abroad which should have been used on public welfare,” he said.

The Malaysian premier said he and PM Khan discussed issues of common interests including those related to the entire Muslim world. He hoped that his visit would open new corridor of bilateral trade and investment and strategic cooperation between the two sides.

“Today we met and need to identify what we can sell and buy from each other,” he said, adding that the two countries could exchange information on how to combat corruption. He said due to corruption, and some other reasons, not a single Muslim country was considered developed.

He said Malaysia had planned to become developed by 2020 but unfortunately due to changes in the government it became impossible to achieve the target. “We still have the target of becoming a developed country by year 2025. We hope it is not only confined to Malaysia; other Muslim countries must also strive to develop themselves,” he added.

“We believe that the trade between us will increase because we now have outlined the measures that we should take. We also talked about the possibilities of foreign direct investment (FDI) by both the countries.”

About Islamophobia, Dr Mahathir said 50 Muslims, including nine Pakistani and three Malaysians, were killed in New Zealand “because of the feeling of hatred that has been generated by the press and others. We need to learn how to handle this and by not reacting to it”.

Later, speaking at a business conference, Dr Mahathir said he had placed a ban on receiving of gifts by ministers and public office holders. They were directed that they could only receive flowers, he added.

On the occasion, he gifted a Malaysia-made Proton car to PM Khan and said it was not a “gift” but a bid to make publicity of Malaysian car. Proton factory in Karachi would be a joint effort between the Malaysian carmaker and its local partner Alhaj Automotive. This would be the company’s first assembly plant set up in any South Asian country.

According to Finance Minister Asad Umar, Malaysia and Pakistan signed MoUs for five big projects on Friday. He said Malaysia also showed interest in purchasing JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, Halal meat and rice from Pakistan. He said Islamabad would soon fulfil its agreement to provide anti-tank missiles to Malaysia. He said both countries agreed to open branches of their banks in each other’s countries. Pakistan would also try to make use of Malaysia’s knowledge of tourism, he added.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2019