Islamabad/New Delhi, Dec 17 (TIWN) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday cancelled his scheduled trip to Kaula Lumpur, Malayasia where he was to attend a summit of Muslim majority countries excluding Saudi Arabia and a few others.

 The summit, finalised by Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia in September in New York, had stirred a controversy since Saudi Arabia perceived it as a direct challenge to its leadership in the Islamic world.  On Tuesday, soon after Imran Khan''s cancellation, Malayasian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad clarified that the summit was not going to be a "platform to replace the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation". 

"The selection of the key nations for the summit is for the specific objectives, but the list is not exhaustive," Mahathir said in a statement.  In an indirect apology to Saudi Arabia and other key Islamic states, Mahathir said, "For this summit only a few national leaders are asked to participate but Malaysia wishes to reiterate that all the 56 countries of the Islamic world were invited and all the 56 are represented at various levels."  Top official sources told IANS that Khan decided to call off his participation at the summit hosted by the Mahathir government, last minute on Tuesday.