‘WE CAN SHARE INFO TO FIGHT GRAFT’
Any form of corruption must be stopped, says Dr M
MALAYSIA and Pakistan can share information to fight corruption in the two countries, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said any form of corruption must be stopped and agreed with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan that corruption would make a country poor.
“We are concerned about corruption. You have to pay a certain amount to make sure a certain job is done. Sometimes money is stolen by officials and this has to be stopped.”
Imran said Dr Mahathir had made a remarkable comeback as prime minister to combat corruption.
“We have been watching you stand against corruption. My party (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) started a campaign 22 years ago against corruption. The country is not poor. It is corruption that has made the people poor.
“It is corruption that destroyed the institution. (It is) corruption that took money that should be spent on human beings, (but) laundered abroad. They impoverished (the nation) and diverted money meant for human development.”
Earlier, Imran described Dr Mahathir as a Muslim statesman who had transformed Malaysia into a model for the Muslim world.
He said Malaysia had developed and raised the standard of living of its people under the premiership of Dr Mahathir.
“We follow (the development) closely as Pakistan has always had a good relationship with Malaysia. We admire you for that,” he said in a joint press conference with Dr Mahathir after the Malaysia-Pakistan delegation bilateral meeting here yesterday.
Dr Mahathir began a three-day working visit to Pakistan on Thursday.
Imran said he and Pakistan admired Dr Mahathir for taking a stand on issues that affected the Muslim world.
“Like the war on terrorism and the way it affects the Muslim world. The way Islamophobia has spread in the Western world. The way Muslims are treated because of confusing and deliberate political struggle.
“Any crime that is committed by a Muslim, immediately 1.3 billion Muslims will be blamed for the crime. This was reflected in the Christchurch attack — a terrorist shooting innocent people, women and children at the mosque without feeling regretful. We in the Muslim world have been watching you take the stand for what affected the Muslims.”
Imran said in the Muslim world, there were two leaders who stood out on international issues, and they were Dr Mahathir and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“We watched Malaysia transform, and how the standard of living and per capita income have gone up. Pakistanis are heading to Malaysia for opportunities.
“In the 1998 Southeast Asia economic crisis, Malaysia was the only one that got out of the crisis through homegrown solutions.”
Earlier, Pakistan accorded an official welcome to Dr Mahathir at the Pakistani prime minister’s official residence.
His visit is at the invitation of Imran to attend the Pakistan Day celebration, which is observed on March 23 every year.