Mahathir arrives in Pakistan to red carpet welcome

ISLAMABAD: Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived to a red carpet welcome at the Nur Khan Airbase on Thursday as he began his three-day official visit to Pakistan.

Accompanied with a high-level delegation, including several leading businessmen, Dr Mahathir was received by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Planning Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, who has also been named hospitality minister for the duration the Malaysian delegation’s visit.

Clad in traditional dresses, two children presented to him a bouquet and a 21-gun salute heralded the Malaysian Prime Minister. A contingent of the Presidential Guards presented a static salute to the dignitary who is visiting Pakistan at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

During his stay, he will be the guest of honour at the Pakistan Day Parade on March 23. Mahathir is slated to meet President Arif Alvi, hold a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Khan, followed by delegation-level talks. The two leaders would also speak at a round-table meeting of Malaysian chief executives who desire to invest in the automobile and telecommunication sectors of Pakistan.

According to the Foreign Office, Prime Minister Mahathir’s visit would further cement the existing brotherly and friendly relations between the two countries. The focus of the interest is on enhancing economic, trade, investment, and defence ties, for the mutual benefit of the peoples of the two countries.

Ahead of the Malaysian Premier’s arrival, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the visit would reinvigorate bilateral relations and three memoranda of understanding (MoU) would be signed in the fields of electric automobiles, telecommunication and Halal food processing. At a news conference at the Foreign Office, the Prime Minister’s aide about commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, said Malaysia’s national automaker company Proton would sign an MoU with Pakistan’s Alhaj Automotives to set up an assembly plant of electric cars in Pakistan.

Telecom companies Jazz and Telenor will ink MoUs with Malaysia’s eDotCo Group for enhanced collaboration in the telecommunication sector, while Pakistan’s Fauji Farms will sign an MoU with Malaysian companies for cooperation in the food sector, particularly Halal meat processing.