Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday reiterated his stance on the importance of flexibility in the actions or thoughts of leaders, saying that taking a "U-turn" was a "hallmark of great leadership".

In a message posted on his official Twitter account, the prime minister said, "Doing a U-turn (sic) to reach one's objective is the hallmark of great leadership just as lying to save ill-gotten wealth is the hallmark of crooks".

The premier also took a jibe at his opponents, saying "lying to save ill-gotten wealth is the hallmark of crooks".

On Friday, PM Khan — who has often been termed as the “master of U-turns” by his opposition — had told a group of journalists that a "leader who does not do timely U-turns is not a real leader".

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The premier, in his conversation with reporters at the PM Office, had reflected on the failure of leaders like Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte, saying that they "faced defeat as they did not change their strategies according to the situation and (as a result) their armies were marooned in Russia".

The statement had drawn criticism from opposition parties. PPP leader Khursheed Shah had questioned the examples of leaders which PM Khan gave, saying that the premier had “called himself Hitler” by referring to him.