PM Imran regrets missing out on Kuala Lumpur summit

In a joint press conference with Mahathir, says there was a misconception that the conference would divide the ummah

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Imran Khan has regretted that he could not attend a summit of some Islamic countries convened in Malaysia’s capital late last year because some close friends of Pakistan “somehow felt the conference was going to divide the Muslim Ummah”.

Premier Imran was scheduled to attend the four-day conference – dubbed the Kuala Lumpur Summit – which was organised by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to discuss the most pressing issues confronting the Ummah.

But he pulled out at the eleventh hour under pressure from Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies.

Riyadh and its allies stayed away from the summit, which was attended by Iran, Turkey and Qatar – all rivals of Saudi Arabia, because it was being held outside the banner of the Jeddah-based 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The OIC said such meetings not only weaken the bloc, it also weakens Islam.

“I want to say how sad I was that I could not attend the conference in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of December,” Prime Minister Imran said while speaking at a joint media briefing with his Malaysian counterpart after their bilateral talks at the Prime Minister Office in Putrajaya.

“Unfortunately, our friends, who are very close to Pakistan as well, felt that somehow the conference was going to divide the Ummah.

It was clearly a misconception because that was not the purpose of the conference as evident from when the conference took place,” he added.

It became clear later that the purpose of the summit was not to divide the Ummah, he said, standing next to Dr Mahathir, who said he had shared with Prime Minister Imran the outcome of Kuala Lumpur Summit, 2019.

Asked if skipping the summit had any impact on Pakistan’s relations with other Muslim states, Imran replied in a firm “no”, saying that it did not “affect [Pakistan’s] relations with other Muslim countries”.

He stressed the need for the Muslim countries to educate the Western and other non-Muslim countries on misunderstandings about Islam.

A joint media by Muslim state -- something on which work was under way -- would not only project a positive image of Islam, but would also develop content for the young Muslim generation about the great religion.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Mahathir said he was committed to collaborating more closely on the issues affecting the Ummah. He also spoke about the areas of further bilateral collaboration, particularly trade, investment, defence, law enforcement, tourism and education.

Premier Imran earlier held one-on-one talks with Dr Mahathir before the delegation level meeting in Putrajaya. Both sides agreed to explore trade and investment potential of their countries for a relationship based on strong economic cooperation.

One-on-one meeting of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad starts at PM Office Putrajaya. #PMImranKhan #Malaysia pic.twitter.com/u37tZcrEZJ

— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) February 4, 2020

The prime minister, who paid a two-day visit to Malaysia on the invitation of Dr Mahathir, said the purpose of his tour was to “further strengthen ties between Pakistan and Malaysia in view of their tremendous future in trade and investment cooperation”.

“We held talks based on the idea to develop much greater trade relationship, investment and joint collaboration in defence,” the prime minister said, about the one-on-one meeting with his Malaysian counterpart.

Premier Imran thanked Dr Mahathir for speaking up for Kashmiris, who have been under siege in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir for the last six months.

He also referred to categorical statements of Dr Mahathir on Kashmir from time to time that drew ire of India, cutting off of import of Malaysian palm oil.

“You’ve spoken for justice for Kashmiris, for which we are thankful,” the prime minister said.

“We noticed that India threatened Malaysia for supporting the Kashmir cause with cutting their palm oil imports, Pakistan will do its best to compensate for that,” he added.

Dr Mahathir termed his meeting with Imran and “discussion on issues of common interest to open doors of opportunities for our peoples”. He expressed his “commitment to [a] partnership in strengthening relations in [the] best interest” of the two countries.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan and I had a substantive discussion on bilateral cooperation as well as on regional and international issues,” he said, adding that it reflected the mutual commitment to strengthen a long history of bilateral relations.

Dr Mahathir called for further collaboration between various ministries and agencies of the two countries and welcomed the successful convening of bilateral consultations between senior officials of both ministries of foreign affairs as the key forum to intensify engagements at working level.

Asked about prospects of investment in Pakistan, Dr Mahathir said Pakistan had got a developing population of 200 million and their needs could be met through joint ventures with Malaysia.

He mentioned the setting up of Photon car automotive plant in Pakistan, which he said would go further into the engineering businesses.

Signing ceremony

Following their talks, the two prime minister witnessed the signing of an a extradition treaty and an MoU between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Malaysia’s United Indigenous Party (Bersatu) for close cooperation between them.

During the signing ceremony at the PM Office, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Malaysia’s Law Minister Liew Vui Keong inked the treaty, while Qureshi, also Vice Chairman of the PTI, signed the MoU with Deputy Foreign Minister Yahya Marzuki, the Secretary General of Bersatu.

At the joint news conference, Dr Mahathir said the extradition treaty “reinforced a positive momentum in bilateral relationship by enhancing security and transnational crime cooperation.”

He added: “Any criminal, may it a terrorist or an ordinary criminal, having committed crime in Malaysia and trying to hide in other country with which we have extradition, will not be able to get refuge.”

Imran termed the signing of the treaty an “important milestone” in cooperation with Malaysia in law-enforcement sector.

He mentioned that a wanted Pakistani criminal involved in a number of murders was extradited from Malaysia even before the signing of treaty.