Since a while, government officials and ministers have been announcing news which turned out to be premature after some time. May it be to spread speculation or to score personal points in order to gain fame, the said behavior is quite disappointing and it also discredits the government.
Earlier in June, the Minister for Planning and Development Khusro Bakhtiar claimed that Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted a fund of 3.4 billion USD for budgetary support. The claim was also confirmed by the Finance Adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh via tweet. But later, the country office of the bank issued a rebuke, denying the claims of officials for 3.4 billion USD aid from a Manila-based lending agency. The bank further explained that there is an ongoing discussion with the government but nothing had been finalized.
Recently, on the matter of extension of the Asset Declaration Scheme, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda claimed the extension of the scheme via a tweet which was later denied the Chairman FBR Shabbar Zaidi. Although the extension was expected due to the immensely positive response and pressure, Vawda’s claim was half baked.
And now another unripe news was published regarding the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Russia for Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). It was announced that the PM would be visiting Russia to attend the conference scheduled in September in Vladivostok, on a special invitation from the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Foreign office spokesperson Dr. Muhammad Faisal commented on the said claim that the news is ‘speculative’. He added that the governments of Russia and Pakistan are in contact over the matter and a formal announcement would be made at an appropriate time. “Reports appearing in media about Prime Minister’s participation in Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Russia are speculative. Pakistan and Russia remain in contact about engagement at the highest level. Any announcement in this regard would be made formally at an appropriate time.”, he tweeted.
