Malaysia, Pakistan To Strengthen Defence, Aviation, Healthcare And Cybersecurity Cooperation

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Pakistan have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in defence, aviation, public health and cybersecurity as part of ongoing efforts to deepen bilateral ties.

In a joint statement issued following their bilateral meeting today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his counterpart Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed satisfaction with the strong and ongoing defence collaboration under the Joint Committee on Defence Cooperation (JCDC) established in 1997.

"Cooperation between the two countries has been tremendously strengthened through high-level visits, regular bilateral meetings at ministerial and military levels, military-to-military engagements and defence industry linkages.

"Both sides also agreed to further deepen bilateral defence cooperation particularly in the fields of defence science, technology and industry, through knowledge and technology transfer," the statement read.

Recognising the importance of aviation in fostering greater connectivity and promoting people-to-people exchanges, both leaders agreed to enhance air travel services and explore opportunities for increased connectivity between Malaysia and Pakistan.

"Efforts will focus on increasing air traffic rights to enable the expansion of flight routes and facilitating the growth of air travel, thereby strengthening economic, business and tourism ties between the two nations," the statement read.

Anwar and Shehbaz also agreed to explore collaboration in healthcare, pharmaceuticals and medical devices with the aim of enhancing public health and commercial exchanges in these sectors.

Both leaders underscored the critical importance of regional cooperation in disaster management and risk reduction, and committed to enhancing the exchange of knowledge and best practices in humanitarian assistance, emergency response and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.

The leaders also expressed their commitment to enhancing cooperation in cybersecurity and efforts in combating transnational organised crimes, terrorism, terrorism financing as well as cybercrime.

"They agreed to continue exchanging information and expertise to address emerging security challenges," the statement stated.

Both leaders noted the active cooperation on key issues within the framework of international organisations, particularly the United Nations (UN) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Developing-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation (D-8) and reaffirmed their commitment towards mutual support for each other's initiatives and candidatures to the international bodies.

-- BERNAMA