Malaysian PM to visit Pakistan

At the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim will make an official visit to Pakistan from October 2 to 4, according to an official announcement released on Monday.

He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers, deputy ministers and senior officials, read the foreign office statement.

PM Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim will hold meetings with PM Shehbaz Sharif.

The two sides will discuss a wide-ranging agenda to further strengthen Pakistan-Malaysia ties in diverse fields including trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, halal industry, tourism, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts. They will also discuss regional and global developments.

Pakistan and Malaysia enjoy strong bilateral ties anchored in history, culture and faith. This visit provides an important opportunity to further strengthen Pakistan-Malaysia relations.

This is the first visit by the Malaysian premier in 5 years. The last visit was undertaken by then-Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad to Pakistan in March 2019.

Mahathir had developed close ties with former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Mahathir launched an initiative to bring like-minded Muslim countries on one platform to advance the Islamic world's perspective. He hosted a Kaula Lampur summit in late 2019, inviting leaders from the Muslim world.

Imran was also invited but had to pull out of the summit after a strong protest launched by Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh saw the move as an effort by Mahathir to establish a new Islamic bloc. Pakistan's mishandling of the issue led to unusual strains with Saudi Arabia.