PM Modi wishes President Ashraf Ghani on his ‘birthday’, but oops on a wrong date

PM Modi took to Twitter to greet Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on his birthday. He wished President Ghani a "long life and exceptional health and a joyful journey ahead".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani (L) looks on during the inauguration of newly built complex of Afghanistan Parliament in Kabul on Friday. (Source: PTI)

Narendra Modi has always been appreciated for being a tech-friendly PM but on Friday, a major faux pas left him red-faced on Twitter, where he has nearly 18 million followers.

PM Modi took to Twitter to greet Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on his birthday. He wished President Ghani a “long life and exceptional health and a joyful journey ahead”.

Happy birthday @ashrafghani. Praying for your long life & exceptional health and a joyful journey ahead.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 12, 2016

But PM Modi ended up getting mocked on the platform when Ghani replied thanking the PM for his ‘gracious words’ although his birthday falls on May 19 and not February 12.

@narendramodi Greetings from Munich Mr. PM. Although, my Birthday is on 19th May, but I’d still like to thank you for your gracious words :)

— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) February 12, 2016

What followed was trolling of the PM on Twitter.

@ashrafghani Congratulations for your rebirth Sir. @narendramodi

— R K Saxena (@rks17353) February 13, 2016

@ashrafghani @narendramodi This is what happens when the internet becomes the ‘source’ of ‘information.’ Happy b’day in advance though :)

— SIDAARRTH SHINDE (@sidaarrthshinde) February 12, 2016

@ashrafghani if shri shri @narendramodi has wished u on 12th Feb, then u must celebrate ur bday on this dt every yr frm now on 🙅
Bas final 😂

— कोमल :) (@Komal_Indian) February 12, 2016

Don’t the trust the Google :) 😂😂😂😂😂😂 @ashrafghani @narendramodi

— Santoesha Bissesar (@MsSantoesha) February 12, 2016

Many however pointed out that Google could be blamed for the PM’s faux pas, as on the search website, President Ghani’s birthday is shown to be February 12.

Nevertheless going forward, PM Modi and his staff should stock accurate information, especially when it comes to birthdays of world leaders rather than falling back on Google.