Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has denied the presence of Hussain Nawaz in the official meeting of the Pakistani government delegation with the Saudi government.
In an interview with a journalist, Khawaja Asif denied the presence of Shehbaz Sharif Salman Shehbaz, and Hussain Nawaz in the official meeting. The Defence Minister said that Hussain Nawaz had traveled at his expense to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
Khawaja Asif claims that Hussain Nawaz was not present in any of the state-level meetings in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He categorically denied it in response to a question asked by journalist Kashif Abbasi regarding the presence of Hussain Nawaz.
حسب عادت خواجہ آصف نے آخری روزہ بھی جھوٹ بول کر ہی گزارا- خواجہ آصف کی جانب سے برطانوی شہری حسن نواز اور مفرور مجرم سیلمان شہباز کی سعودی ولی عہد سے پاکستانی وفد سے ملاقات میں شرکت کی تردید جبکہ ویڈیو میں دونوں مجرم شریک ہیں۔ #الیکشن_کراو_پاکستان_بچاو pic.twitter.com/i7DevyYnfv
— PTI (@PTIofficial) May 3, 2022
PTI hits back
The questions were raised after pictures of Hussain Nawaz and Salman Shehbaz present in the meeting went viral on social media.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was on an official three-day visit to Saudi Arabia. Accompanying him were the Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, and Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Tahir Ashrafi among others.
Interestingly, Hussain Nawaz and Salman Shehbaz (who hold no government positions) also attended the meeting. This had irked social media users as they question the capacity in which they attended the meeting.
Read more: Netizens slam Sharif sons for attending official Saudi meeting
Furthermore, netizens are also recalling how Nawaz Sharif’s sons categorically rejected being Pakistanis as they hold British nationalities. Therefore, netizens, including PTI leaders, are questioning their representation in the PML-N government meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince.
PTI once again challenged the statements of Khawaja Asif on its official Twitter handle and posted the image with a short clip of the interview with Khawaja Asif. “As usual, Khawaja Asif spent the last day lying. Khawaja Asif denied that British citizen Hassan Nawaz and fugitive convict Salman Shahbaz had attended the meeting with the Pakistani delegation from the Saudi Crown Prince,” said PTI in its statement.