Pakistan to buy more palm oil from Malaysia, PM Khan explains withdrawal from KL Summit

Imran Khan said pressure from ‘friends’ was behind his withdrawal from the forum of Muslim world leaders planned by Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad

On a state visit, Khan praised the Southeast Asian nation for its friendship and thanked Mahathir for ‘supporting the Kashmir cause’ despite India’s ire

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (right) shakes hands with his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: DPA

Published: 6:50pm, 4 Feb 2020Updated: 9:59pm, 4 Feb 2020

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday praised Malaysia for its friendship and promised to buy more palm oil from the Southeast Asian nation, as he acknowledged pressure from “friends” was behind his withdrawal from last December’s summit of Muslim world leaders organised by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

In comments made in Kuala Lumpur, where he is on a two-day state visit, Khan said he was “sad” he could not attend the Kuala Lumpur Summit as “unfortunately our friends who are very close to Pakistan as well felt that … the conference was going to divide the ummah [Islamic community]. It was clearly a misconception because that was not the purpose of the conference.”

Khan said it was evident after the summit that dividing the ummah was not its purpose, and he had been looking forward to attending as “I felt it was very important that Muslim countries educate the Western countries and other non-Muslim countries about Islam and all these misunderstandings”.

The Kuala Lumpur Summit was given a wide berth by Saudi Arabia and its allies following the perception that the new event was attempting to undermine the Riyadh-dominated Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Multiple Pakistani media reports said Saudi Arabia had leaned on Khan to rethink his participation.

Mahathir says there is a strong mutual commitment to “further enhance the long history of close bilateral relations” with Pakistan. Photo: DPA

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was invited but declined to participate in the forum, which was also skipped by leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain. It did, however, feature speeches by Mahathir, Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

During his trip to Malaysia – Khan’s second since coming to power – the two countries also signed an extradition treaty to enhance cooperation on security and combating transnational crime as part of efforts to enhance bilateral relations.