New York:
Foreign minister SM Krishna has clarified that there was 'nothing wrong' with him reading out the speech of the Portuguese Minister instead of his own.
The clarification came after an embarrassing faux pas in which India's Foreign Minister read from out the Portugese Minister's written speech at a UN meet in New York on Saturday.
Krishna added that there were many papers spread infront of him so by mistake he picked the wrong speech.
Not surprisingly, the BJP is not looking at the mistake very kindly.
"This government has no direction. The UN Security Council is a very august body. But minister reads out Portugal Minister's speech. Foreign Minister represents country there. I feel sorry as an Indian," said BJP's spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The foreign ministry has also clarified that the initial parts of all formal addresses contain salutation and courteous references which is common to all speakers.
The confusion was created because the Portuguese Minister decided to speak extempore and a copy of his speech was handed out to all foreign ministers.