Malaysian Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, announced his decision for the Muslim 5 pioneers of the Kuala Lumpur Summit, including Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, and Qatar.
Dr. Mahathir, who is also the Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Summit, said that the heads of state of Pakistan, Turkey and Qatar have agreed to arrive in the Malaysian capital to attend the Summit, scheduled for December 18 to 21, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.
Muslim Ummah’s Challenges
The Malaysian Prime Minister said that the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 will allow the Muslim 5 countries a platform to discuss the challenges faced by the Muslim ummah, on the basis of seven pillars: development and sovereignty, culture and identity, justice and freedom, and integrity and good governance.
Pakistan Along With Four Other Islamic Nations Planning To Form ‘Muslim-5’ To Compete With Non-Islamic Nationshttps://t.co/S1aVWOuMsw
— Swarajya (@SwarajyaMag) December 5, 2019
Addressing the soft launch of the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 in November, Dr. Mahathir observed that the other pillars of the Summit include, peace, security and defense, technology and internet governance, and trade and investment.
The theme of the summit has been finalized as “The Role of Development in Achieving National Sovereignty”, and it will be attended by 450 Muslim leaders, scholars and intellectuals from across the world.
Dr. Mahathir said that many other countries had also expressed their interest to attend the Summit and requests were made for additions to the Muslim 5. He said, “Obviously, we need to have Muslims supporting this initiative but to begin, we have to do it in a small way, and I hope that we can carry this message all over the world.”
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Responding to a question on the selection of the Muslim 5 countries, including Pakistan, Turkey, Qatar, Malaysia and Indonesia, which will form the nucleus of the Summit, Dr. Mahathir said, “We need to keep the group small initially.”
The Malaysian Prime Minister lamented that many Muslim countries are faced with the turmoil of civil war or preoccupied in other challenges. He said, “So we select small countries that will have the time and effort to find solutions that is why we choose these five countries.”
“It is not they do not have problems, but their problems is not as big as other countries. But I hope later on, others will join.”
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— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) July 28, 2019
Responding to a question on whether the Summit is an alternative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Mahathir responded that the OIC is a “very big organization” and the conference cannot host such an organization in its initial stages.
He said, “That is why we started with five countries and we do hope over time the other members of OIC will join in.”
Since the meetings between Prime Minister Imran Khan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, on the sidelines of the UNGA session in New York, the Muslim world has been anticipating the revival of a dynamic leadership that will address the challenges faced by Muslims across the world, particularly the rise of Islamophobia.
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The three leaders have, time and again, reiterated their commitment to work together towards promoting prosperity and development in the Muslim world, and devising strategies to counter the rising surge of Islamophobia and hate crimes targeting Muslims in the western world.
Earlier in July, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi tweeted that the three leaders are collaborating to unite the Muslim World. He said, “Heartily welcome PM @chedetofficialand President @RTErdogan emphasis on Malaysia, Turkey and Pakistan working together to initiate a Muslim Renaissance and unite the Muslim world.”
Heartily welcome PM @chedetofficial and President @RTErdogan emphasis on Malaysia, Turkey and Pakistan working together to initiate a Muslim Rennaisance and unite the Muslim world.https://t.co/3Ql5ESjiUH
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) July 26, 2019