President Mamoon Hussain held a meeting with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to discuss bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Radio Pakistan reported on Sunday.

The two leaders spoke about the situation in South Asia and Middle East, the daily reported.

While in Jeddah, Hussain also met with the president of Yemen, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and Speaker of the National Assembly of Kuwait Marzooq bin Ali Al-Ghanim, and discussed matters of mutual interest.

Hussain returned home after performing Umrah and was seen off at the airport by Governor Jeddah Mishaal bin Majid bin Abdulaziz.

The president's meeting with the Saudi monarch comes days in the backdrop of a deepening diplomatic rift in the Middle East, days after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held talks with King Salman during a one-day trip to the Kingdom.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia, backed by United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Maldives cut off all trade and diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing the country of sponsoring terrorism.

The deepening crisis in the region has been touted as the biggest in the Middle East and has led Pakistan, along with countries around the world, into coming up with a suitable strategy to end the conflict.

In its initial response to the crisis, Pakistan had stressed the need for unity in the Muslim world and urged the countries involved to engage in dialogue.

However, there are worries that Pakistan would not be able to maintain its neutrality in the conflict for long.

During their meeting, King Salman told Sharif that “the fight against extremism and terrorism is in the interest of all Muslims and the Ummah”.

Sections of the media reported that monarch urged PM Sharif to choose sides in the rift and asked him “are you with us or with Qatar?”

Pakistan has maintained strong ties with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the rift has placed the country in a tense position.