PUTRAJAYA: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan (pic) says he is "sad" that he was unable to attend the Kuala Lumpur Summit as there were "friends" who felt that the conference would divide the Muslim ummah (community).
In explaining his absence, Imran said that some parties had a misconception about the KL Summit hosted by Malaysia.
"Somehow, some of our friends felt that the conference was going to divide the ummah. Clearly, that was a misconception because that was not the purpose of the conference," he said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad after a bilateral meeting on Tuesday (Feb 4).
Malaysia hosted the KL Summit in December last year aimed at taking cooperation between Muslim nations to new heights.
Imran announced at the eleventh hour that he was not attending the Summit, in what was believed to be the result of diplomatic arm-twisting.
Imran, who is here on a two-day visit, said he had looked forward to being at the conference.
"I was looking forward to attending the conference because I feel that it is important that Muslim countries educate Western and non-Muslim countries about Islam and all these misunderstandings, whether deliberate or due to ignorance," he said.
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