Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s highly-publicised visit to China was marred by a gaffe by state-run PTV broadcasting a speech by him in Beijing with the dateline “Begging”, triggering an intense debate on the social media in the country.

Khan was addressing an event at the Central Party School in Beijing which the PTV was telecasting live. In the top left corner, where it says the location of the event, the screen read “Begging”.

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While the ticker describing the event got the spellings of Beijing right in Urdu, the word misspelt in English resulted in a major embarrassment for PTV as well as the government.

The faux pas is seen particularly ironic since the Pakistani premier is on a mission to secure a package from China to overcome a major economic crisis his country is confronted with.

Khan has come in for sharp criticism by his adversaries over his ‘U-turn’ since he was a vocal opponent of visiting other countries with a “begging bowl” before assuming office.

Now, with the PM going from one country to another negotiating bailout packages and even having to contend with the IMF, the mistake by the state-run television has become all the more conspicuous.

An embarrassed PTV later tweeted, “Today, during a live address of the Prime Minister during his ongoing visit to China, a typographical error took place, which remained on screen for 20 seconds and later removed. This incident is regrettable. Strict action has been initiated under rules against concerned officials.”