KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 -- Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has related his experience meeting Russian president Vladimir Putin back in 2005, two years after he stepped down from his first stint as prime minister.

Speaking to TIME magazine, Dr Mahathir recalled how to Putin's entourage, it was unthinkable that his home stood completely exposed - not even a perimeter wall in sight.

"For [Putin's] security, to have somebody like me with no fence was unthinkable," he reportedly said while laughing.

"But we had a four-hour meeting. He was interested in seeing how Malaysia managed from an agro-based country to become industrialised.

"He was going to rebuild Russia. When I talked to him it was about development, increasing trade, basically to be less co...