Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan during their meeting at the Perdana Putra in Putrajaya February 4, 2020. — Bernama pic

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 4 — Malaysia and Pakistan today signed a treaty on extradition to reinforce the positive momentum in the bilateral relations by enhancing cooperation on security and combating transnational crimes.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the treaty, which was signed here in conjunction with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Malaysia, could be applied to terrorists and criminals.

“If any criminal having committed some crime in Malaysia has to hide in other countries, through the extradition treaty, we can get the country concerned to help us arrest the person. It might be terrorists and criminals. Anybody who has done something wrong in Malaysia and seeks refuge,” he said at a joint press conference with Imran Khan after a meeting between the two leaders here today.

Imran Khan, meanwhile, said there was a wanted Pakistani criminal in Malaysia involved in murder who was extradited from Malaysia even before the treaty was established.

Dr Mahathir also said that as two peace-loving Islamic nations, Malaysia and Pakistan agreed to increase collaborative efforts to uphold the true values of Islam while strengthening solidarity of Muslims.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia would continue to foster and deepen bilateral relations with Pakistan in various areas including defence and law enforcement, tourism and education.

Stressing that Imran Khan’s working visit reaffirmed both countries’ commitment to strengthen partnership in their best interests, Dr Mahathir said: “We agreed to encourage more exchanges of visits at all levels for a firm foundation to set the future direction of our bilateral relations.”

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia and Pakistan also agreed on the need for regular discussions to strengthen their trade relationship by removing barriers in key sectors as well as addressing bilateral goods imbalance.

Malaysia and Pakistan, he said, looked forward to convene the fourth joint committee meeting of the Malaysia-Pakistan Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (MPCEPA) in Islamabad.

Imran Khan on behalf of Pakistan and the people of Indian-administered Kashmir also thanked Dr Mahathir for speaking up about injustices there.

This is Imran Khan’s second visit to Malaysia since assuming office in August 2018. The cricket star’s first visit was in November 2018. — Bernama