With this in mind, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spent the entire duration of his flight to Riyadh rehearsing his address to the summit, which included leaders of 55 Muslim-majority states. It was time to drive home Islamabad’s perspective on countering Islamist terrorism – the theme of the event – considering Pakistan’s unique role as both victim and counterterrorism proponent. Raheel Sharif heads the counterterror militia, and the country is fourth on the Global Terrorism Index in terms of the most affected states.

Yet Nawaz Sharif wasn’t invited to address the summit. Neither was Raheel Sharif.

Not only did the U.S. president identify India as a victim of terror, he failed to acknowledge Pakistan as one. This at a time when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has stayed the execution of Kulbhushan Jadhav – an alleged Indian spy convicted of terrorism in Pakistan – and when deeming Kashmiri separatist militancy synonymous with “Pakistan-sponsored terrorism” is the official New Delhi stance.

This would’ve been a setback at most gatherings, but for the U.S.-Saudi leadership to silence Pakistan’s narrative at an “Islamic” summit was particularly damaging, considering that Islamabad has long held Islam as a foreign policy tool and has based its support for the Kashmiri struggle on religious affiliation as well.

As the U.S. president joined Saudi King Salman in being high on anti-Iran rhetoric, asking the Muslim world to isolate the nation that Trump said had “fueled the fires of sectarian conflict and terror,” Pakistan’s repeated claim of the Saudi-led coalition not targeting a particular sect or state was significantly dented as well.

If Islamabad still needs a reason to abandon Islam as a foreign policy determinant, it only needs to look at its relations with its “Muslim brothers” in the neighborhood, and the consistent Saudi refusal to even allow Pakistan a say in the global Muslim narrative.