Pakistan PM eats, President forgets to stand during speech: Comedy of errors during Saudi Crown Prince visit – WATCH
Escalating tensions between India and Pakistan will be on mind as Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holds talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his maiden state visit to the country today. The prince is arrived in New Delhi for a two-day official visit on Tuesday evening. His Pakistan visit a day ago is yet to be forgotten for the stand the Kingdom took on Masood Azhar in the joint statement with Pakistan.
Pakistan had rolled out the red carpet for the crown prince and accorded a royal welcome to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, literally. On Monday, Imran Khan even broke protocol to drive Saudi Prince Salman to the PM house himself, spawning memes galore applauding and ridiculing the former cricketer in equal measure.
However, one incident has left the entire nation embarrassed and its video evidence going viral does not help either. The Pakistani government had organised a state lunch to welcome Crown Prince Salman during his recent visit. Pakistan President Arif Alvi, the Saudi prince and Imran Khan are all seen seated at the dias.
The video shows Pakistan PM Khan eating seated alongside the Saudi Crown Prince on the dias. This, while the Pakistan President was delivering his speech. If that wasn’t enough, the President appears to have forgotten to stand up to deliver his speech.
Imran Khan then takes a break from his meal and can be heard reminding the President to stand up while delivering his address. The President complies immediately. All this happened with the Crown Prince sitting between the Prime Minister and the President.
In New Delhi on Tuesday, the Saudi crown prince was given a warm welcome by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport. The Crown Prince happens to be the Vice President of the Council of Ministers and is also the Minister of Defence for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He comes along with a high-level delegation that includes senior officials, ministers and businessmen.
The Crown Prince and Prime Minister Modi will hold bilateral talks on various issues on Wednesday at the Hyderabad House. A joint statement by India and Saudi Arabia is expected to be released at 1.15 PM today. Cross-border terror is expected to take centrestage at the talks, especially in view of the huge doles promised by the Kingdom to India’s terror-infested neighbour.