The director general (DG) of Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), Major General Asif Ghafoor, on Wednesday announced plans of Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir bin Mohammad to attend the Pakistan Day Parade on March 23 as the guest of honour. In a statement on Twitter, the DG of the military wing informed that the defence minister of Azerbaijan, Bahrain’s army chief and other officials from Oman would also grace the occasion. The parade would also include several contingents from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
It may be pertinent to mention that Dr Mahathir would visit Pakistan on the special invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan extended during his visit to Malaysia last year. He was formally invited on Nov 29, 2018, by Pakistani High Commissioner, Nafees Zakaria, on the behalf of his country.
It is being said that the Malaysian premier’s visit would coincide with signing ceremonies of several memorandums of understanding and investment accords between the two countries.
Published in Daily Times, March 14th 2019.
