Mistaken identity: ‘I sat beside Waqar Masood, not Dar’

Panamanian deputy economy minister clarifies statement regarding his meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar

A day after setting off a fresh storm of controversy, Panama’s deputy economic minister pointed out that it was Pakistan’s Finance Secretary Waqar Masood and not Finance Minister Ishaq Dar whom he had met in Washington, DC.

“Just to clarify, at the Global Connect Initiative Meeting I sat beside Waqar Masood, Federal Secretary of Finance and not Mr Dar, Finance Minister,” Ivan Zarak tweeted.

Earlier, the Panamanian deputy economy minister had claimed to have met Pakistan’s finance minister in Washington. He said Dar had asked him about the Panama Papers scandal.

However, the finance ministry dismissed the claim by Panama’s minister that Ishaq Dar met him in Washington, insisting that it was absolutely baseless, as Dar was in Pakistan during the said meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2016.