Pakistan, Malaysia sign extradition treaty during Khan’s visit

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Malaysia signed an extradition treaty on Tuesday witnessed by Prime Minister Imran Khan and Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, confirmed the Prime Minister’s Office.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Malaysian Law Minister Liew Vui Keong signed the agreement which deals with people who seek sanctuary in the former country after committing a crime in the latter.

“It may be a terrorist, or an ordinary criminal, or anyone who has done something wrong in Malaysia and seeks refuge in Pakistan,” Dr. Mahathir said.

The two premiers earlier held a one-on-one meeting followed by delegation-level talks at Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya.

The two sides agreed to build a strong bilateral economic partnership and work together on issues affecting the Muslim Ummah, the PMO said in a statement.

“Pakistan and Malaysia have agreed to build a strong economic partnership to strengthen the trade and investment relations by removing barriers in key areas and develop linkages between the private sectors of two countries,” the statement added.

Both sides also expressed commitment to build stronger ties in the areas of defense, law enforcement, tourism, and education.

“They agreed to more exchanges at different levels to set the future direction of their bilateral relationship. They reaffirmed commitment to ensure stronger collaboration among various ministries and agencies to enhance friendship and understanding between the two peoples.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Malaysia on Monday on the invitation of his counterpart, Mahathir Mohamad, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

On his two-day visit, the premier is accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Asad Umar, Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood.

This will be Khan’s second visit to the Southeast Asian country – following a trip in November 2018 – since assuming office two years ago.

Khan was scheduled to visit Malaysia in December 2019 for a summit in Kuala Lumpur but canceled it at the last minute.

Khan’s visit will provide an opportunity to review the full spectrum of bilateral relations and reaffirm Pakistan’s resolve to forge a robust economic relationship with Malaysia and further expand the existing broad-based and long-term cooperation. the foreign office had said in a statement prior to Khan’s departure.