Malaysia went out of the way and spoke against traditional-ally India at the United Nations General Assembly. Malaysian PM attacked India saying New Delhi has invaded Kashmir and also criticized Indian acts in the region after repelling article 370.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in turn, skipped the Kuala Lumpur Summit of Islamic nations and stunned the South-East Asian country.
The Kuala Lumpur Summit was hosted by Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad from December 19-21 and was being seen as an attempt to create a new bloc in the Muslim world that could challenge the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) led by Saudi Arabia.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states and comprising 53 countries being Muslim-majority countries. The OIC has permanent delegations to the United Nations and the European Union and led by the Arab block. The official languages of the OIC are Arabic, English, and French.
PM Khan had earlier confirmed his participation at the KL Summit which was expected to explore new and workable solutions for problems afflicting the Muslim world. Now in a damage control mode, Imran Khan is now expected to visit Malaysia, ending January.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed Saudi Arabia for pressurizing Pakistan into withdrawing from the Kuala Lumpur Summit in Malaysia.
“Saudi Arabia pressures Pakistan,” Erdogan told Turkish media. “Now, there are promises that the country has given to Pakistan regarding the central bank. However, more than that, there are 4 million Pakistanis working in Saudi Arabia.
They [threaten by saying that they] would send [Pakistanis] back and re-employ Bangladeshi people instead,” he said, adding that the Gulf kingdom had also issued similar threats to withdraw money deposited in the State Bank of Pakistan if Islamabad attended the Kuala Lumpur Summit.
