Saudi foreign minister to visit Islamabad today.

ISLAMABAD -- Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud will visit Islamabad on Thursday (today) for thanking Pakistani leadership for supporting Riyadh's position on the Kuala Lumpur summit and shunning the event, a diplomatic source said.

The visit, which will be the first by the current Saudi foreign minister since assuming office in October, has also been officially announced by the Foreign Office.

'The Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, will be visiting Islamabad on 26 December 2019. ...This would be his maiden visit to Pakistan, during which the exchange of views would cover bilateral matters and regional issues of mutual interest,' an FO statement said.

Foreign Minister Saud will meet his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Prime Minister Imran Khan during the trip.

Diplomatic source says purpose of the trip is to thank PM Khan for not attending KL summit

The source, in one of the Arab diplomatic missions, disclosed that the visit was scheduled only a couple of days ago. 'The purpose of the visit is to thank PM Khan for his decision of not attending KL summit, and express solidarity with Islamabad after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's allegations that Saudi pressure forced Pakistan to skip the event,' he said requesting anonymity.

'The Saudis also want to dispel the impression, which was reinforced by Erdogan's allegations, that their attitude towards Islamabad is patronising,' he added.

A statement issued by the Saudi Embassy had earlier rejected the allegations of coercion as...