Pakistan’s desperate charade to further a false narrative about its leadership was again exposed during the ongoing SCO Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan,ย in a glaring faux pas by the Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office.ย
In a post on X, Shehbazย Sharif’s office posted a picture of him posing with other state leaders at the podium of the summit with the caption: “Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in a group photo with heads of state at the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 1 September 2026.”
Pak PM shares cropped SCO group photograph
One thing that stood out evidently was that the picture was heavily cropped to exclude the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other leaders and, in the petty process,ย the background depicting the SCO Summit 2026 logo too.
Social media calls out Pakistan PM
The aim was to position Sharif and Pakistan at the center of the event, contradictory to the reality. Sharif was only seen during the picture posing and did not had any interaction with Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping, whom Pakistan tried to position in close ties with Sharif.ย
This was called out by several users on X, leaving Shehbaz Sharif embarrased once again on global paltforms due to immature tactics.
Users also shared the uncropped group photograph to counter the misleading version and highlight the stark difference between the original image and the one posted by the Pakistan PMO.
“Pakistan PM cropped the image to not show PM Modi. Meanwhile, Modi shared full pic. Typical Pakistani mindset,” one user posted on X. Another tweeted, “Here is the complete and official picture. Perhaps your system was unable to display the full official picture.”
Shehbaz Sharif posts original photo after criticismย
Following the backlash, Sharif later shared the original, uncropped photograph from his personal X accountย with a caption:ย “Today, I was honoured to address the SCO Council of Heads of State Meeting in Bishkek as Pakistan assumed the SCO Chairmanship for 2027. I congratulated the Kyrgyz Republic on successfully hosting the Summit and steering the Organization with distinction. Guided by the Shanghai Spirit, the SCO has emerged over the past 25 years as a vital forum for regional cooperation.”
The reality of the SCO picture
The original photographย was taken during the summit in Bishkek on Tuesday, showing leaders of the 10 member countries posing together for a group picture. However, the version shared by the Pakistan PMO appears to have been cropped, leaving out Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Iranian President and several other leaders who were visible in the original photograph.
The original photograph shared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a very different story. Contrary to the cropped version circulated by the Pakistan PMO, Shehbaz Sharif was clearly visible in the original image, standing fourth from the right, as seen in the photograph above.
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