Pakistan’s envoy to UN apologizes for ‘typo’ after tweeting about ‘Foreign Minister’ Boris Johnson
News of Boris Johnson’s move to Downing Street apparently never reached Pakistan’s envoy to the UN, who commented on a meeting between Imran Khan and the UK “foreign minister.” The diplomat later described the gaffe as a "typo."
“Prime Minister Imran Khan met with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson this morning,” Maleeha Lodhi tweeted on Monday.
Believe it or not but #Pakistan's permanent representative to UN does not know that Boris Johnson is actually the Prime Minister of UK. Not surprised that she is the same person who cut a sorry figure when she showed pictures of Gaza as those from #Kashmir. pic.twitter.com/w9yiT8IWd4
— Snehesh Alex Philip (@sneheshphilip) September 23, 2019
The mix-up was quickly spotted by the Twitterati, who grilled the Pakistani envoy over the glaring faux pas.
@sneheshphilip this is the plight of Pakistani Diplomacy. This woman is digging a grave yard day by day for Pakistan at the UNGA
— Pankaj Singh पंकज सिंह 🇮🇳 🌍 🇮🇱 (@Pankaj_nliu) September 23, 2019
Others wondered if Pakistan’s prime minister at least knew who he was meeting with.
Hope IK knew whom he was meeting😂
— Anonymous On Purpose (@tohfakaboolhai) September 24, 2019
Not everyone joined the internet pile-on, however. An observant netizen astutely noted that amid the chaos of Brexit, it has become increasingly difficult to keep track of who is in charge of Britain.
Don't blame Maleeha Lodhi, UK has a new PM every day..
— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) September 23, 2019
The tweet was later deleted and replaced with a message apologizing for the rather undiplomatic “typo.”
Sorry typo in previous tweet. Prime Minister Imran Khan Met British PM this morning. pic.twitter.com/Ufp9vz5Ent
— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) September 23, 2019
The correction sparked a fresh round of social media quips, with Twitter users complaining that the envoy didn’t even understand the difference between a “mistake” and a “typo.”
Lol ...Hey Siri ...explain to this person what a #typo is 🙄 ...#NotATypohttps://t.co/qr3DG6nvD9
— Emilie (@paintsandsings) September 23, 2019
This isn’t the first time that Lodhi has been fact-checked by the internet. In a UN address in 2017, she held up a photograph of mutilated girl, claiming the image came from Kashmir. It was soon revealed that the photo was actually taken in Gaza in 2014, causing considerable embarrassment for Islamabad.
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