Pakistani minister boycotts Islamic council meeting over Indian presence

Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi listens during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, Pakistan August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood/File Photo

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's foreign minister said on Friday he would not attend a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Abu Dhabi this weekend because his Indian counterpart had been invited to the event.

"I will not go to the council of foreign ministers," Shah Mahmood Qureshi told parliament, adding that lower ranking officials would attend to represent Pakistan's interests.

(Reporting by Saad Sayeed; writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)