People-to-people ties between Pakistan and Malaysia to be promoted

Islamabad : Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS) and the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), Malaysia, held here an interactive virtual meeting concluding with both sides expressing the commitment to forge an institutional relationship and undertake joint endeavours as part of the efforts to build closer people-to-people ties between the two countries.

During the meeting, the two sides apprised each other of their respective visions, mandates and scope of work and highlighted their outputs over the years as well as the extent of international collaboration.

They also acknowledged the complementarity in their objectives and research interests including building narratives, focusing on relevant global and regional issues, and reinforcing their countries’ foreign policy endeavours.

Sohail Mahmood, DG, ISI, highlighted the close brotherly relations between Pakistan and Malaysia, the convergence of views between the two countries on major issues and their long-standing tradition of supporting causes dear to the Muslim Ummah. He also highlighted efforts in the realm of the countering Islamophobia and accentuating Pakistan’s pivot to geo-economics.

Dr Maszlee bin Malik, Chairperson, IAIS, who is also former Minister of Education of Malaysia, underscored the fraternal Malaysia-Pakistan relations, stressed the need for enhanced academic and think-tank exchanges and the importance of developing a road-map for IAIS-ISSI collaboration.