NEW YORK            -          Amna Nawaz, an award-winning correspondent for Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on Thursday became the first Pakistani-American and Muslim journalist to moderate a US Presidential debate which took place in Los Angeles, California.

Ms Nawaz, 40, a senior correspondent for the PBS news programme “NewsHour”, alongwith Judy Woodruff, the programme’s anchor and Managing Editor, the channel’s White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor and Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta, co-moderate the sixth Democratic primary debate held at Loyola Marymount University.

During the lively debate, Former Vice President Joe Biden questioned Amna Nawaz over her correct pronunciation of “Afghanistan”.

Amna Nawaz had asked Biden about a recent Washington Post report showing that US officials misled the public about how badly the war in Afghanistan was going.

The candidate, who’s currently a front-runner in the contest for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination, interjected mid-question. “Afghanistan, you said?” Biden asked, using American pronunciation.

“Yes, sir. Afghanistan,” Amna Nawaz responded, sticking to her pronunciation.

Once Amna Nawaz confirmed she said what he thought she did, Biden went into an answer about his track record of opposing increased US military intervention in Afghanistan and seeking a political settlement in a bid to end the long running war.

During the one and half-hour long debate, the seven Democratic Presidential hopefuls said that to win the 2020 election, the party’s nominee must bolster the economy, provide citizenship to undocumented people, eliminate student loan debt and provide relief for working families.