Malaysia, Pakistan reaffirm strong bilateral ties, pledge greater cooperation

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged to deepen bilateral cooperation on a range of issues on Tuesday, as part of the latter's working visit to Malaysia.

Mahathir, who hosted Khan at his Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya here, said the two countries would engage in more frequent exchanges at the ministerial and agency level on a range of issues including economic and security cooperation.

"We also welcome the successful convening of the first bilateral consultation between senior officials of both ministries of foreign affairs as the key forum to intensify engagements at the working level," Mahathir told a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart after their meeting.

"On bilateral economic cooperation, we acknowledge the need for both sides to further explore the huge potential available in both countries and to develop further in economic partnership particularly in trade and investment, to establish networks between various economic entities and linkages among the private sector," he said.

Khan, for his part said both countries shared similar views on a range of issues.

"Traditionally we have been very close but the object of the visit is to even get closer. We feel that the future of trading ties, of investment, of cooperation between Malaysia and Pakistan is tremendous. It's because people in both countries, it's not just the government, the people of Malaysia and Pakistan, there is a very close affinity between them," he said.

Beside the face-to-face meeting, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of a extradition treaty.