Stumbling from one slip of tongue to another.

Byline: ZAEEM MUMTAZ BHATTI

Prime Ministerial gaffes reflect badly on the country

'To err is human; to forgive, divine.'

All people commit sins and make mistakes.

God forgives them, and people are acting in a godlike (divine) way when they forgive.'

When the young Alexander Pope famously wrote these lines in a didactic poem entitled An Essay on Criticism as far back as the 18th century, he did not know that the first line would soon make its way into English lexicon, taking on the status of a proverb. This saying is often quoted and resorted to by someone who makes a mistake and seeks apology thereafter. There is no gainsaying that human beings are not infallible, and that making mistakes is inherent in human nature.

However, it is not expected of a prime minister to make embarrassing mistakes, and that too about history and geography, thereby dealing a huge blow to the image of his country. It is generally considered that a prime minister being the elected representative of the people would be a paragon of virtue and a man of integrity who would not involve himself in personal attacks aimed at political rivals. He would rise above mudslinging, and bridge differences instead of deepening the polarisation. In a word, a person towards whom the nation looks up. An onerous responsibility falls upon the shoulders of a prime minister to tread carefully when he is visiting a foreign country. To put a spin on history and distort hard-geographical facts would give a bad impression about a prime minister.

Watching Prime Minister Imran Khan committing a faux pas, one could not believe one's eyes. While holding a joint press conference with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Prime Minister Khan confidently said that following the Second World War, Germany and Japan conducted trade on their borders. People got an opportunity to have a good laugh. They took to Google to find out the distance between Japan and Germany. They were in for a surprise: Japan and Germany stand 5,500 miles apart.

At the end of the day, these mistakes not only betray Khan's lack of knowledge, but also go a long way towards reinforcing the impression that he largely thinks after he speaks

The world of Twitter was abuzz with memes about Khan's latest 'comic mistake'. He was mocked, and was guffawed at. PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari took jibes at him, questioning his Oxford education. Needless to mention that Khan is not the only one who gets his geography wrong. US President...