Pak PM scrambles for damage control after his office edits leaders out of SCO summit photo
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared to go into damage-control mode on Tuesday after his office shared an edited version of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit’s family photograph, cropping out several world leaders while keeping Sharif prominently at the centre of the frame.The Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) first shared the edited summit photograph at 11:42am IST.The full image showed the heads of SCO member states and senior officials standing together ahead of a session of the 26th SCO Summit in Bishkek.From left, the photograph featured SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure chief Ularbek Sharsheev.The selective framing put Sharif at the centre of the image alongside several prominent leaders.At 3.32pm IST, the Pakistani Prime Minister shared the full family photograph featuring all the world leaders.What’s was on the agendaThe 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Leadership Summit focused on strengthening regional cooperation and addressing shared security, economic and geopolitical challenges.The summit, marking the SCO’s 25th anniversary was held in the expanded “SCO Plus” format, bringing together leaders from member, partner and observer countries to discuss wider regional and global issuesWhat PM Modi told SCO summitDuring the summit, PM Modi addressed the SCO summit and called for a united fight against terrorism, saying there could be no “double standards” on the issue.“We must dismantle the entire ecosystem of terrorism–its financing, recruitment, radicalisation, and safe havens,” Modi said, adding that countries which use terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter or support to terrorists must be sent a strong message.PM Modi also called for greater regional cooperation on security, connectivity and economic opportunities, while stressing dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward in addressing conflicts.
