Pakistan on Monday rejected as "speculative and misleading" a media report which claimed that the institutional differences led to the embarrassment after Prime Minister Imran Khan pulled out of a key summit of Muslims nations held in Malaysia last week.
Quoting the Foreign Office officials, The Express Tribune reported that the Foreign Ministry in categorical terms warned Prime Minister Khan that his decision to attend the summit would draw backlash from Saudi Arabia, a key ally. But the advice was ignored by the PM Office and Khan accepted the invite, only to decline it at the eleventh hour due to pressure exerted by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Summit from December 19-21 in Kuala Lumpur was seen as an attempt to create a new bloc in the Muslim world that could become an alternative to the dysfunctional Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) led by the Saudis.
In a brief statement, the Foreign Office on Monday said that the media report on Kuala Lumpur Summit was based on "opinions" by unnamed officials and rejected it as "speculative, misleading and self-contradictory".
The FO pointed out that the news report "betrayed lack of understanding of the exhaustive consultations process involved in important policy decisions and overlooked the extensive diplomatic outreach at multiple levels undertaken on this subject."
It further said that the "insinuation of any gap between various offices is firmly rejected."
Asked whether the prime minister was not aware of the political dynamics in the Muslim world, another official said: "In this government, the Foreign Office has little role in policymaking. Most of the decisions on foreign policy are being taken without consulting the Foreign Office."