Premier's aide Firdous Ashiq Awan on Monday said that the decision of whether the prime minister will visit Malaysia for the Kuala Lumpur Summit or not will be taken "in accordance with national interest".

The prime minister, who is currently in Bahrain and will later visit Geneva, will return to the country on Wednesday and will then decide if he should visit Malaysia, she told reporters.

The development comes a day after the premier's return from Saudi Arabia, where he had gone on a one-day visit on Saturday to assuage the reservations of the kingdom about Pakistan’s participation in the Kuala Lumpur Summit, among other issues, sources had told Dawn earlier.

Prime Minister Imran had earlier confirmed his participation in the Kuala Lumpur summit, which will be held in Malaysia from December 19-21. The summit is a brainchild of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The plan for the summit was finalised during a trilateral meeting involving Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia in September in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.

The summit is also being attended by leaders of Turkey, Qatar and Iran in addition to hosts Malaysia. Around 450 leaders, scholars, clerics, and thinkers from 52 countries are expected to attend the event.

KL Summit is being 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 led by the Saudis. This development has upset the Saudis, who are taking it as a challenge to their dominance in the politics of the Muslim world.