The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (commonly referred to as MBS) will not be visiting Southeast Asia after all.

MBS has embarked on an Asian tour, which originally included Indonesia and Malaysia.

However, according to Indonesia media The Jakarta Post, the Crown Prince's trips to Malaysia and Indonesia have been abruptly postponed.

MBS was scheduled to meet Indonesian president Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad during the Southeast Asian leg of his tour. 

It would have also been his first official visit to Southeast Asia since he was crowned prince in 2017.

The Crown Prince is believed to be seeking financial lifeblood after Western investors have become wary of doing business with the Crown Prince.

This change of heart was precipitated by the Crown Prince's alleged involvement in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to American media outlet Al-Monitor.

For example, he is expected to sign up to US$15 billion in investments in Pakistan.

Mahathir himself unclear about reasons

Bernama reported that Mahathir himself was unclear as to why MBS had postponed his trip to Malaysia.

It quoted Mahathir as saying:

"I don’t know why, except that he said he is not coming, that is the only information I got".

The Star reported that Malaysian foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah had spoken to the Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, who confirmed that the visit was off on Feb. 15.

The Jakarta Post added that the Malaysian foreign ministry has since announced that it "apologises for the change and the trouble it (the visit's postponement) may have caused."

Aside from releasing a statement about the cancelled visit, the Indonesian foreign ministry also said:

"Indonesia and Saudi Arabia will continue to communicate for a new schedule, and a more optimal outcomes (deliverables) for the visit."

Supposedly bringing investment opportunities

The Malay Mail stated that MBS had originally been scheduled to open the Refinery & Petrochemical Complex of Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical in Kuala Lumpur.

His trip was also expected to bring increased investment in the Petronas Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Johor.

As for his trip to Indonesia, The Jakarta Post added that MBS had been slated to meet Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo for talks on economic cooperation and "the interests of the ummah (global Muslim community)", as one senior Indonesia official said.

Trip was delayed after a terror attack in India

The Crown Prince has already visited Pakistan and is expected to arrive in India from Feb. 19 to Feb. 20, according to Indian media NDTV.

He will then wrap up his Asian tour in China from Feb. 21 to Feb. 22.

According to Bloomberg, MBS was originally scheduled to reach Pakistan on Feb. 16.

However, it was pushed to Feb. 17 instead.

It is uncertain what caused the delay.

Bloomberg reported that a bombing was carried out in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb. 14 that left over 40 Indian paramilitary personnel dead.

Jaish-e-Mohammad, a Pakistan-based terror group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack has since sparked tensions between India and Pakistan -- countries which MBS was scheduled to visit.

Saudi Arabia aims to "de-escalate" tensions between India and Pakistan

According to al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia will attempt to mediate the conflict between the two countries.

"Our objective is to try to de-escalate tensions between the two countries, neighbouring countries, and to see if there is a path forward to resolving those differences peacefully".

Amidst India's mobilisation to isolate Pakistan diplomatically on the world stage, the Saudi Crown Prince had since signed US$20 billion worth of investment deals with the latter.

He is also expected to discuss investment and trade in India, along with the issue of terrorism, AlJazeera reported.

Here's what Mahathir said about the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi:

Top image collage from Mohammed Bin Salman Facebook and Mahathir Facebook