News Desk

LONDON: The controversy surrounding the supposed inclusion of columnist and social media activist Shama Junejo in Pakistan’s delegation to the United Nations this week took a new turn on Sunday when she claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had included her among the delegates as an adviser.

The controversy had surfaced when photos from Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s address at a UN Security Council session on artificial intelligence (AI) spread like wildfire on social media platform X, with users pointing to Junejo sitting in the background. Several of them also shared screenshots from her Twitter (now X) timeline from several years ago, expressing support for Israel — a position sharply at odds with Pakistan’s longstanding pro-Palestinian stance.

After social media furore, Asif said on X that only the Foreign Office could explain Junejo’s presence at the session. Later, the FO clarified that she had not been part of Pakistan’s accredited delegation.

Following that, Asif also spoke about the matter on Geo News programme ‘Naya Pakistan’. Asked whether he was “taken aback” by the FO’s statement, Asif emphatically said: “I was taken aback, rather I was a bit disturbed that such people could be with the delegation whom no one owns later.” He also denied Junejo having written PM Shehbaz’s speech for the 80th UN General Assembly session, further stating that as far as he knew, she did not have any official position, be it of an adviser or a special assistant.