*ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan and Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamaddiscussed the atrocities in Indian-administered Kashmir and the reasons forthe Pakistani premier skipping the Kuala Lumpur conference in December 2019* *during their meeting on Tuesday.*
PM Khan arrived in Kuala Lumpur Monday night and he was received byMalaysian Minister for Defence Mohamad Sabu and senior officials of theMalaysian government at the Bunga Raya Complex, Kuala Lumpur InternationalAirport.
“Traditionally, Pakistan and Malaysia have been very close but the objectof this trip is for us to becoming closer,” said PM Khan while addressing ajoint press conference Tuesday morning. “There is a close affinity betweenthe people of the two countries.
The premier added that he specifically wants to talk about the discussionhe had with Mahathir over the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir. “Avery radical and extremist government has taken over India. They have putthe people in Kashmir in an open prison for the last six months.”
Kashmiri leaders have been put in jails and many teenagers have starteddisappearing. “I want to thank the Malaysian PM for standing with us andsupporting us over this issue.”
The PM then spoke about the controversy surrounding his decision to skipthe Kuala Lumpur Summit.
“I was really sad that I couldn’t attend the conference in Kuala Lumpur,because our friends, who are also close to Pakistan, felt the conferencewould divide the Muslim Ummah,” he explained. But, after it was held itbecame very clear that was not the purpose of the summit.
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“I was looking forward to attending it because I feel the Muslim countriesneed to educate the Western and other countries about Islam and remove allmisconceptions about our religion,” he added. “We have to tell them aboutthe real message of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).”
We need a joint media venture to project a positive role of Islam and fightIslamophobia, the PM remarked.
The Malaysian PM, on the other hand, spoke about the willingness of the twocountries to form closer trade and bilateral ties.
“We reaffirmed the Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economy Partnership signed onNovember 8, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur and agreed on the need to hold regulardiscussions and strengthen trade relations,” he said.
