RT India deletes post claiming PM Shehbaz waited to meet Putin

The RT India news channel has deleted an X post claiming that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif waited to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Turkmenistan.

RT India uploaded a video suggesting that PM Shehbaz waited for nearly 40 minutes to meet President Putin before "gate-crashing" a meeting with the Russian leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The post further claimed that the PM stayed in the meeting for only about 10 minutes before leaving.

After the claims were challenged, the post was taken down. RT India clarified that, "We deleted an earlier post about Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif waiting to meet Vladimir Putin at the Peace and Trust Forum in Turkmenistan."

It added: "The post may have been a misrepresentation of the events."

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The meeting took place during the International Forum marking the International Year of Peace and Trust, held in Ashgabat, which was attended by several world leaders, including Presidents Putin and Erdogan and Prime Minister Shehbaz.

According to media reports, the prime minister interacted with both leaders and held discussions on bilateral ties and regional matters. During the same visit, Prime Minister Shehbaz also met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Several accounts aassociated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) circulated the inaccurate RT India claim.

Journalist Abasa Komal wrote on X: "Such propaganda against Pakistan is mostly driven by Indian and Afghan social media accounts & then picked up by Pakistanis who strongly dislike current regime."

"It is a complex situation but also shows state’s failure to change public perceptions through its approach towards opposition and governance. That’s why most people are ready to believe anything online that undermines the system or even humiliates the country. Influential social media accounts should be more responsible."

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