PUTRAJAYA: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's arrival at the Prime Minister's Office today marks the start of his meetings with high-ranking officials in the Malaysian government.
PUTRAJAYA: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is here for a maiden official visit to Malaysia after assuming his post in August, was accorded an official welcome at Dataran Perdana, here today.
Imran Khan, who arrived in Malaysia yesterday, was greeted by his Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad upon arrival at the Perdana Square here at 9.40am.
After the national anthems of both countries were played, Imran Khan inspected a guard-of-honour mounted by three officers and 103 personnel from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment.
Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and cabinet ministers as well as ambassadors.
Dr Mahathir and Imran Khan are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting, giving both sides the chance to review existing relations and cooperation as well as identify new areas for future collaboration.
The meeting will also allow both leaders to exchange views on a range of global and regional issues of common concern.
After the bilateral meeting, both leaders will witness the signing of an Agreement on Partial Abolition of Visa between both the Malaysian and the Pakistani government.
The Pakistani prime minister is also scheduled to have an audience with Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong and Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.
Imran Khan is also scheduled to visit the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters here.
Malaysia and Pakistan have been enjoying substantive and longstanding bilateral relations in the field of education, tourism, defence cooperation and technical assistance.
In 2017, the total bilateral trade between the two countries was recorded at RM5.76 billion (US dollar 1.34 billion), an increase of 3.5 per cent as compared to 2016.
Pakistan is Malaysia’s third largest trading partner amongst South Asian countries. -- Reporting by Mohd Fadli Hamzah, Ahmad Irham Mohd Noor, Azura Abas and Hashini Kavishtri Kannan. Additional reporting by Irwan Shafrizan Ismail and Mohd Husni Mohd Noor.