The Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office triggered a social media controversy on Tuesday after posting a cropped version of the official group photograph from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek that excluded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other leaders.
The photograph was taken ahead of a session of the 26th SCO Summit and featured leaders of the bloc’s member states. However, the version shared by the Pakistan PMO was cropped from both sides, leaving Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and several others outside the frame while making Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appear closer to the centre.
India shares full photograph
Modi subsequently shared the complete photograph from the summit on his social media account. The uncropped version showed the full line-up of leaders, including Sharif, who was standing fourth from the right rather than at the centre.
The complete photograph included SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Modi, Pezeshkian, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sharif, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure chief Ularbek Sharsheev.
The Pakistan PMO had posted the cropped photograph with a caption identifying it as a group picture of Sharif with heads of state attending the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Kyrgyzstan. It offered no explanation for why several leaders had been excluded from the frame.
Sharif later posts complete image
Following criticism on social media, Sharif later shared the full group photograph on his personal X account, with Modi and the other leaders visible. A video posted on Sharif’s official Facebook account showing the SCO leaders’ roundtable had also reportedly been framed in a manner that excluded Modi.
The episode came against the backdrop of continuing tensions between India and Pakistan. Addressing the SCO summit, Modi called for a united approach against terrorism and warned against double standards, saying countries using terrorism as an instrument of policy must receive a clear message from the international community.
India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO in 2017. The organisation now has 10 member states, including China, Russia, Iran and Belarus.