Malaysia and Pakistan decide to step up their collaboration against drug trafficking and terrorism.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Malaysia agreed to improve cooperation in areas of counterterrorism, drug trafficking, illegal immigration and cybercrime prevention during a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in Islamabad on Saturday.

The Malaysian Interior Minister visited the Interior Ministry and was met by Naqvi. The two parties held delegation-level talks on security, law-enforcement cooperation between the two countries.

Both parties agreed to improve intelligence sharing against terrorists and drug traffickers and reiterated resolve to establish more effective collaborative measures to fight terrorism, drug trafficking and human smuggling.

They also discussed co-operation between the coast guards of the two countries, including training and capacity-building programs.

Naqvi said Pakistan intended to take lessons from the Malaysian experience in the coast guard sector. The two sides also agreed to enhance collaboration between Pakistan’s National Police Academy and the Royal Malaysian Police College through training programs, exchange of expertise and professional capacity building initiatives.

The meeting also agreed to establish a collaborative working group between the two interior ministries. The committee will examine the accomplishments made in several areas of bilateral cooperation and enhance institutional coordination.

Pakistan, he said, has deep and brotherly connections with Malaysia and hoped the visit of Malaysian minister will push the bilateral relationship to a new level.

He also lauded Malaysia’s development experience and said Pakistan was eager to learn from the country’s growth.

The two sides also exchanged views on the promotion of tourism and visa facilitation. Malaysia is an appealing destination for Pakistani tourists and visa facilities should be eased to promote people-to-people relations, Naqvi said.

Both countries reaffirmed the determination to further deepen bilateral relations and agreed to enhance cooperation in security, law enforcement, training, tourism and human resources.