US President Barack Obama arrived in Malaysia Saturday for a three-day visit aimed at warming up trade and security ties with the predominantly Islamic South-East Asian country. Obama, the first American president to visit Malaysia in nearly 50 years, hailed the ethnic and religious diversity in Malaysia, according to dpa. In a toast during a dinner hosted by Malaysian King Abdul Halim at Istana Negara (National Palace), Obama said the United States and Malaysia could draw strength from the religious and ethnic diversity of their people. Obama also recalled his mother's love for the batik, a cloth that is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique common in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia where the president spent a part of his childhood. He told the more than 600 people who attended the dinner that his mother believed that all people all over the world share common aspirations, to work and to raise family. King Abdul Halim expressed his gratitude to Obama for the continued support of the US in the search for the Malaysia Airlines jetliner carrying 239 people that went missing on March 8, about an hour after it left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Beijing. The Malaysian monarch also welcomed the US working "hand in hand" with Malaysia to advance their common goals. Obama and Malaysian Prime Minsiter Najib Razak were scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on Sunday to discuss wide-ranging issues, including the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and regional security concerns. -- SPA 17:59 LOCAL TIME 14:59 GMT تغريد
