New Delhi/Islamabad, March 31: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was trolled by media in his country for falsely claiming that his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had apologised for imposing nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Imran Khan made the fake claim while addressing people in Pakistan on Monday. In his address, Khan also said a countrywide lockdown was a bad idea for Pakistan in the fight against coronavirus. Coronavirus Cases Surge in Pakistan, PM Imran Khan Remains Defiant in Announcing Lockdown.

Khan said PM Narendra Modi had to apologise to the people for imposing a nationwide lockdown "without proper planning". "Now India is in dilemma. If they withdraw the lockdown, coronavirus will spread. If they continue with the lockdown, people will die of hunger. That's why I am saying, first understand the situation of our country. We need to ask, if we lock down an area, can we provide food to everyone living there?" Khan said. Fact Check: 'Pakistan Patient Recovers From Coronavirus, Throws Party to 100 People, Tested Positive Again' Fake News Goes Viral, Here's The Truth.

Imran Khan's Address to People of Pakistan (watch from 3.23 - 3.47 minutes):

The fact is PM Narendra Modi did not apologise for the lockdown. Addressing people of India on March 29 through his "Mann Ki Baat" radio programme, PM Modi apologised to the nation for the inconvenience caused due to the nationwide lockdown. "I apologise for taking these harsh steps which have caused difficulties in your lives, especially the poor people. I know some of you would be angry with me also. But these tough measures were needed to win this battle," PM Modi had said.

"The battle against COVID-19 is a tough one and it did require such harsh decisions to keep the people of India safe," the Indian Prime Minister added. He did not seek apology for the lockdown itself. A media house in Pakistan, Geo News, called out Khan's false claim about Modi's apology.

Fact Check on Imran Khan's Speech by Geo News:

While India has gone under the lockdown, Pakistan has not announced any such restrictions in view of the coronavirus outbreak. The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan has increased to 23 after seven fatalities were reported in a day, while the number of confirmed cases has jumped to 1,775 as of Tuesday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2020 07:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).