ISLAMABAD: Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim will pay an official visit to Pakistan from October 2-4, 2024 at the invitation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FO) announced on Monday. The Malaysian prime minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, including ministers, deputy ministers and senior officials, the FO said in a statement. “Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The two sides will discuss a broad agenda to further strengthen Pakistan-Malaysia relations in various fields, including trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, halal industry, tourism, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts. They will also discuss regional and global developments,” the statement added. Pakistan and Malaysia share strong bilateral ties rooted in history, culture and faith. The visit is seen as a significant opportunity to strengthen these relationships across various sectors. This is the first visit by the Malaysian Prime Minister in five years. The last visit of then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Muhamad to Pakistan was in March 2019. Mahathir developed a close relationship with former Prime Minister Imran Khan. He launched an initiative to unite like-minded Muslim countries on one platform to advance the perspective of the Islamic world. At the end of 2019, he organized a summit in Kaula Lampur to which he invited leaders from the Muslim world. Imran was also invited but had to pull out of the summit after strong protest from Saudi Arabia. Riyadh saw the move as an effort by Mahathir to establish a new Islamic bloc. Mistreatment by Pakistan led to unusual tensions with Saudi Arabia.
