Panamanian Vice Minister of Economy Ivan Zarak on Sunday clarified that he met with Pakistan’s finance secretary Waqar Masood instead of Ishaq Dar.
The Panamanian Vice Minister of Economy Ivan Zarak in a twitter post clarified that he sat beside Waqar Masood and Ishaq Dar in Global Connect Initiative Meeting for minor conversation over Panama Papers leaks.
Just to clarify, at the Global Connect Initiative Meeting I sat beside Waqar Masood, Federal Sec of Finance and not Mr. Dar, Finance Mtr.
— Ivan Zarak (@ivanzarak) April 17, 2016
On the other hand, a spokesman of the Pakistan Embassy rejected media reports suggesting a Ministerial level meeting between the two sides as baseless and constitute misrepresentation of facts.
The finance ministry also dismissed the claim by Panama’s minister that Ishaq Dar met him in Washington, insisting that it was absolutely baseless.
On Saturday, a finance ministry spokesman said Panama’s minister made an absolutely baseless, unfounded and extremely surprising claim of meeting with Pakistan’s finance minister in Washington.
The finance minister, he added, had cancelled his visit to Washington DC, where he was scheduled to attend the spring meetings of World Bank and International Monetary Fund between April 14 and 17.
Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood Khan is representing Pakistan at the Washington meetings currently in progress. The finance ministry said the matter would be taken up with CNN for wrong reporting.
Read more: Pakistan rejects reports about meeting with Panama delegation