LAHORE: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Reforms Ahsan Iqbal on Monday ate his ‘disrespectful’ words about Cuba after a strong reaction from its ambassador.

Some senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders also chided the PML-N’s secretary-general demanding an apology from him for his uncalled-for comments.

Twitter also saw on Monday hashtag #AhsanIqbal one of the top trends with 16,500 comments mostly targeting the federal minister about his comments (about Cuba).

On Sunday at a press conference here, Iqbal said that Pakistan wanted to become a strong country for which it needed a strong economy and positioning with the global economy.

“We don’t want Pakistan to turn into Cuba or North Korea. We have to set Pakistan on the path of development, like Malaysia, Turkey, China and South Korea,” he had said.

On Monday, Ambassador of Cuba to Islamabad Zéner Caro rejected Mr Iqbal’s comments about his country saying “Fortunately, Minister Ahsan Iqbal’s disrespectful mention of Cuba in his press conference in Lahore does not represent and has nothing to do with Pakistanis’ true respect and deep affection for Cuba.”

Clarifying his remarks, Iqbal said: “Excellency! We have deep respect for the people of Cuba; our deep affectionate relations with Cuba. We can’t forget how Cuban doctors played a heroic role in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. My remarks were only in the context of foreign policy.”

Former federal minister Shireen Mazari said in a tweet: “Ahsan Iqbal’s ignorance or desperate desire to please his US regime change conspiracy masters has now led him to demean Cuba by saying he doesn’t want Pak to become like Cuba! We would fare a lot better if we had Cuba’s nationalist commitment to stand up against US bullying.”

Her fellow Fawad Chaudhry said: “Ambassador! Present Pak Government is called #importedgovernment for reasons and this tweet of betterpakistan is just another reflection of slave mind, people of Pak have huge respect for the great Nation of Cuba, I call upon Ahsan Iqbal to apologise for his idiocy.”

PTI lawmaker Momina Basit said: “Cubans have always been a Friend to Pakistan&; have always aided us, especially in the time of the 2005 Earth Quake & it’s a shame that pseudo-intellectuals like Ahsan Iqbal Disrespect a Great friend to Pakistan just to please their American puppeteers!

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2022