Pakistan continues to earnestly pursue its well-planned and forward looking policy of strengthening and promoting bilateral relations with regional and friendly countries, calling for boosting trade and investment instead of aid in bilateral deliberations with all and aiming at further stabilizing the upward trajectory of the national economy in a positive and productive manner.
It was good to note that none else but Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Is quite appreciatively and committedly heading this campaign marked by greater national interests more than anything else.
The PM started October, in this regard, by paying a maiden three-day visit to Malaysia at the invitation of the Malay PM Anwar Ibrahim. The invitation was extended by the Malaysian PM to PM Shehbaz Sharif during their bilateral interaction on the sidelines of the SCO Summit 2025 in Tianjin, China. Earlier the PM had planned to visit Kuala L:umpur in May but it was postponed owing to the short conflict with India.This was the PM’s first official visit since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two islamic regional countries in 1957. Both Malaysia and Pakistan have since built a partnership premised on mutual respect and shared values which was duly elevated to a Strategic Partnership in March 2019.
The PM’s visit to Malaysia was a positive indication of the country’s committed and improved diplomatic stature and increased focus on forging economic and trade relations with more and more friendly and regional countries to the mutual advantage. As already mentioned above, it was indeed commendable that PM Shehbaz Sharif was heading this campaign of great national importance dedicatedly and enthusiastically while also looking after the required important domestic engagements at home
Both the guest and the host PMs had one-on-one bilateral discussions prior to the delegation level talks during which Malaysia-Pakistan bilateral ties were reviewed at some length and new areas of collaboration in multiple sectors were also reviewed.
During their bilateral discussions, the two leaders exchanged views regarding geopolitical issue, particularly the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the grave and deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Rakhine State, Myanmar, which was adversely affecting the Rohingya Muslim community.
Both leaders also strongly condemned the ongoing genocide in Gaza and reiterated their unwavering support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the establishment of a sovereign, viable, contiguous , and independent Palestinian state, based on pre-June 1967 borders with Al-Quds as its capital. The two sides also called for an immediate , unconditional and permanent ceasefire, an end to the blockade on Gaza, the protection of all civilians and for unimpeded flow of direly needed humanitarian assistance to those affected immediately and also commended the international community’s efforts for finding pragmatic measures for resolving the question of granting a Palestinian statehood.
The two leaders also agreed to reconvene, at mutually convenient time the Joint Commission at the Foreign Ministers level and also reaffirmed their commitment for promoting balanced and sustainable ties through enhanced market access, business facilitation, and the effective utilization of the Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement.
Both the PMs, while addressing a joint press conference afterwards vowed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in trade, education, and regional peace , they reiterated their resolve to continue working together for achieving the desired goals.
PM Shehbaz Sharif said that relations between the two countries have been strengthened over time, Malaysia was like a second home to Pakistanis, and during the bilateral discussions they had reviewed Pakistan-Malaysia bilateral ties and explored new avenues for cooperation across multiple sectors. He also welcomed Malaysia’s decision to to import halal meat worth $200 million from Pakistan, describing it as a major step towards expanding the economic engagements between the two brotherly regional countries, He said that Pakistan wanted to join hands with Malaysia for mutually beneficial projects that allowed for expertise from both the countries to come together.
The visiting Pakistani PM said that Pakistan would continue to expand halal meat trade with the passage of time and also pointedly stated that Pakistan was keen to pursue joint ventures in order to benefit from Malaysia’s technological and industrial expertise.
On his part, host PM Anwar Ibhrahim stressed the importance of peace between neighbouring countries India and Pakistan and emphatically stated that durable stability in South Asia was crucial for the entire region and assured his country would continue to extend full cooperation in combating terrorism in all its manifestations.
Mr Sharif has described his bilateral discussions as very productive. It is also worth mentioning here that about 150,000 Pakistanis are in Malaysia contributing to Malaysia’s national building efforts in different fields.
The PM’s visit to Malaysia was a positive indication of the country’s committed and improved diplomatic stature and increased focus on forging economic and trade relations with more and more friendly and regional countries to the mutual advantage. As already mentioned above, it was indeed commendable that PM Shehbaz Sharif was heading this campaign of great national importance dedicatedly and enthusiastically while also looking after the required important domestic engagements at home.
