Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, while more than 2000 Pakistani nationals including 600 students are still stranded in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine, the Pakistan Embassy in Algeria suggested that the country should ask for financial aid from India as it is failing to provide help to its nationals stranded in Ukraine.
“Embassies ordered to divert funds to Ukraine for evacuating Pakistani Nationals. Should we also start asking funds from India as Pakistan Nationals are using Indian flags to flee from Ukraine”, the Pakistan Embassy in Algeria tweeted. It also said that till date no Pakistani national was evacuated and nor did it have funds to pay salaries to its officials or to help Pakistani nationals stranded in Ukraine.
The embassy in Algeria stated that they have been asked by their government to divert funds so that students in Ukraine can be evacuated. They asserted that they do not have funds to even pay salaries to their staff members.
However, the tweet was later deleted after the Foreign Office of Pakistan stated that the social media accounts of Pakistan’s embassy in Algeria had been “hacked” and the posts did not belong to the mission.
“The Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts of the Embassy of Pakistan in Algeria have been hacked,” the FO spokesperson said on twitter. The tweet mentioned that all messages being posted through these accounts were not from Pakistan Embassy in Algeria.
The Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of the Embassy of Pakistan in Algeria have been hacked.
— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) March 2, 2022
All messages being posted through these accounts are not from Pakistan Embassy in Algeria.
Embassy staffers made students raise slogans, then asked them to get down from the bus, says video
The tweet by the Pakistan Embassy in Algeria had shared a video from a Pakistani news channel that revealed the ground reality of the Pakistani students in Ukraine. According to the clip, the Pakistani students in Ukraine were offered help by officials who asked them to raise pro-Pakistani slogans but were later abandoned. Speaking to the channel, a group of Pakistani students stranded in Ukraine stated that they have received no help from their embassy.
The students were made to sit inside the bus, raise slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and were forced to get down after some time. The Pakistani students walked a long way and managed to reach near the Poland border in the severe cold weather. They claimed in the news clip that they had received no help from the Pakistan govt amid the conflict.
Here is the video clip of the Pakistani news channel that was shared by their Algerian embassy.
#PakistanIsolated & #StateOfPakistansEconomy 💥by vids of #Paki students stuck in Ukraine
— Sunjay Vishvasrao (@LageRahoKashmir) February 28, 2022
Thread on it…
Vid 1- GNN TV Report: #PakistansLiesDeceitDeception on fake evacuation of Pak students by #Pakistan‘s embassy exposed#JagoKashmir. Jago @pzshakir6 @pzshabir
See @MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/gQU0PdzNPw
The video was later deleted from the official account of the Pakistan Embassy in Algeria. It is important to note that the Indian Tricolour has helped not only the Indian nationals but also the Pakistani nationals to cross various checkpoints in the war torn country. According to the reports, the students hailing from Pakistan and Turkey used the Indian national flag to save their lives amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Pakistan’s embassies have been complaining about lack of funds over alleged “hacked” tweets
Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Pakistan is facing such an embarrassing situation. Earlier in December 2021, the Pakistan embassy in Argentina posted a picture of PM Imran Khan and other senior officials on its official Instagram account, calling for the substitution of leadership in Islamabad for the revival of the country’s credibility and reliability.
Argentina was reportedly in talks with Pakistan to buy its JF-17, a military-grade fighter jet that it co-produces with the help of China. Pakistan Embassy in Argentina later claimed that their account on Instagram was compromised and that the message calling for Imran Khan’s replacement was not sent by the embassy.
Also, the Embassy of Pakistan in Belgrade, Serbia had gone rogue as it took to Twitter to call out the Pakistan government for not paying its dues for the last three months. The embassy has shared a rap twist to Imran Khan’s ‘Aap ne ghabrana nahi hai’ to taunt Pakistan’s cash-strapped Imran Khan government. This has happened in December 2021.
A lot of videos have surfaced on social media where Pakistani students are seen complaining that they are stranded in Ukraine and unable to get any help from their government. Earlier, news reports have surfaced highlighting that Pakistani students are using the Indian flag to escape from Ukraine, pretending to be Indian citizens.
Pakistan’s envoys to Ukraine and Poland have been seen saying that they doing their best to help the stranded students in Ukraine. As many countries, they are also asking the students to reach Poland for subsequent evacuation.
