SCO summit: Pakistan PM Imran Khan breaks protocol, does not stand to welcome world leaders

Islamabad : In a major embarrassment, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan broke diplomatic protocol at the Opening Ceremony of the 19th Meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.

In a video posted by his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on June 13, Khan can be seen seated while every other leader in the hall stood and welcomed the world leaders to the opening ceremony.

Imran Khan preferred to remain seated at his place while all other leaders around him were standing and applauding the world leaders entering the hall- as a sign of warm welcome.

This is not the first time that the Pakistan Prime Minister has broken diplomatic protocol at a world stage. Earlier this month, he erred at the 14th OIC Summit held in Saudi Arabia.

During a meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the sidelines of the summit, Khan spoke to the King’s interpreter and left without waiting from his response after conversing with the Saudi King. Soon after a video of the same went viral and the Pakistan PM found himself in mired in a pool of ridicule.