However, the PML-N Spokesperson Maryam Aurangzeb termed it a conspiracy against the opposition leader hatched by the government. She also showed to media a picture showing the journalist sitting with Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Special Assistant Shahzad Akbar. The journalist took to Twitter saying, "the PMLN trolls in Pakistan are posting a photo of me with Imran Khan, claiming this shows my article about Shahbaz Sharif was 'planted'."
"The photo was taken last year, when I interviewed him before the election. Here's the proof," he said while sharing the web link of the interview published on July 21, 2018 in the same paper. David Rose also witticized the PML-N trolls and questioned his Twitter followers whether any of the PML-N trolls yet claimed that the story involved the "hand of India"? Meanwhile, in his reaction to the rebuttal issued by Department for the International Development (DFID), the journalist termed it "nothing of the kind."