Indian PM Narendra Modi has wished Afghan President Ashraf Ghani a happy birthday on a wrong date.

Narendra Modi tweeted his best wishes to Ashraf Ghani, writing: “Praying for your long life & exceptional health and a joyful journey ahead.”

Ashraf Ghani gently responded on Twitter only to point out his birthday is, in fact, on May 19: “Greetings from Munich Mr. PM. Although my Birthday is on 19^th May, but I’d still like to thank you for your gracious words.”

Ashraf Ghani’s profile on Google lists his birthday as being on February 12, which may explain the mistake.

Photo Reuters

It is not known if Narendra Modi himself wrote the erroneous tweet. His posts are reportedly written by his social media manager, Hiren Joshi.

Also, it is unlikely Ashraf Ghani, who is at Munich Security Conference, wrote the polite reply, as any posts written by the president himself are signed AG.

Given there at least 22.2 million Twitter users in India and that Ashraf Ghani has more than 176,000 followers, the mistake was spotted by plenty of people.

One Twitter user in India, replied to Ashraf Ghani: “We don’t care when you b’day is , if our honorable PM has wished you today, we will celebrate it today.”

Another, Richard Rego, said it was “the biggest international joke from someone occupying the biggest chair in the biggest democracy”.