Sharif didn't speak at Riyadh summit due to 'time shortage': Pak

After the Pakistani media mocked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for being denied a speech at the U.S.-Arab Islamic summit on counter-terrorism in Riyadh last week, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said on Thursday that the Prime Minister could not deliver the speech due to "shortage of time."

"Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif couldn't deliver his speech due to shortage of time in Riyadh summit," Dunya News quoted Zakaria, as saying.

The Pakistan media frowned as Sharif was not given the stage for speech branding it as 'national humiliation'.

"The PM was effectively gagged at the American-Islamic summit on counter-terrorism. It also represented a national humiliation", said The Daily Times, adding that "no opportunity was given to Pakistan to present its case within the context of the country being a victim of regional instability and terrorism."

What angered Islamabad further was the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump in his speech at the event said "India was one of the countries which had suffered due to terrorism," while ignoring Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan based publication The Nation called the Riyadh summit a disaster for Pakistan, saying "while the country had lost over 70,000 civilians and over 6,000 soldiers to terrorism, Trump did not mention the country even once.