ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Malaysia reaffirmed on Monday their commitment to strong military ties.

Chief of Malaysian Army General Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Bin Raja Mohamed Noor during a meeting with Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif at the General Headquarters discussed the current defence cooperation and prospects for expanding it in future.

During the meeting, views were exchanged on issues of mutual interest, including defence, training and security cooperation between the two countries, and the overall regional security situation, a military spokesman said.

Pakistan and Malaysia have longstanding cooperation in the defence sector, which covers military exchanges and participation in exercises and training programmes.

The two countries have been collaborating in the defence sector under a Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation, which was formed in 1997. So far, 12 rounds of talks at the level of defence secretaries have taken place.

The two sides at the last round held in 2012 had explored avenues for upgradation of the production facility of the Malaysian Defence Industry and cooperation in the field of research and development. An offer to train the Malaysian Special Forces in counter-terrorism was then also made.

Pakistan and Malaysia have been coordinating on terrorism threat, particularly developments in the Middle East.

Published in Dawn, October 6th , 2015

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