While the SCO World Stands, He Sits: Pakistan PM Imran Khan's New Faux Pas

New Delhi: Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has proven to be unstirred by diplomatic protocols and his conduct in the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit stands witness to that. PM Khan has broken the diplomatic protocol at the opening ceremony of the SCO Summit held in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek on Thursday.

Khan’s own party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, shared a video on its official Twitter handle, wherein, the PM can be seen seated while everyone else stood up to welcome the head of states entering the hall.

According to the diplomatic protocol, the guests are expected to stand until each of the heads of states attending the summit arrived.

At the Hall, PM Khan entered, walked straight to his seat and sat down while every other leader remained standing. He stood up briefly and bowed with his hand on his chest as his name was announced. Then, he sat down again.

For Imran Khan, this is not the first protocol violation. Earlier this month, Khan was accused of “insulting” the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz at the 14th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation or OIC Summit held in Saudi Arabia.

During a meeting, Khan spoke to the Saudi King's interpreter and walked off before the message could be translated for him, leaving the Saudi King standing alone.

The video had gone viral and the Pakistani Prime Minister was vehemently slammed for “disrespecting” the King.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of the SCO member countries, including PM Imran Khan, are attending the two-day summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.