SM Krishna reads Portuguese minister’s speech at UN.

Hope he does not read out a message from Pakistan stating that kashmir belongs to Pakistan.

Yeah, it could have happened to any one…to idiots.

India‘s external affairs minister SM Krishna, frequently under attack for not being up to speed in 21st century engagements, gave some more ammunition to his critics by inadvertently reading out the speech of the Portuguese foreign minister at a UN meeting on Friday. He cottoned on to the mistakes a couple of minutes into his delivery, but the faux pas rippled through the electronic world for hours, inviting both sarcasm and merriment.

“Maybe Portugal has outsourced its speech to Bangalore,” read one message on social networking site. “Look at the bright side. We can now lay claim to Cristiano Ronaldo,” tweeted another, referring to the classy Portuguese footballer. A third wondered if SM Krishna should meet the same fate as his Pakistani counterpart SM Qureshi, who was sidelined in a cabinet reshuffle on Thursday. “A mistake? Why do we have a mistake like him in the government,” riffed another.

Krishna’s aides said the reactions were harsh because the flub was inadvertent and “could have happened to anyone.” They also maintained the minister caught on to the error within a few lines of the speech consisting mainly of opening pleasantries, and he did not read on for five minutes as reported in some sections of the media. “You guys must be having a slow news day on Saturday to make such a big deal out of this,” one aide said snarkily.

Read more: SM Krishna reads Portuguese minister’s speech at UN – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SM-Krishna-reads-Portuguese-ministers-speech-at-UN/articleshow/7483448.cms#ixzz1DnzRNz6h