Video footage of Shehbaz Sharif interrupting a high-level meeting between the Russian and Turkish presidents has gone viral, sparking mockery online and questions over diplomatic protocol.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is facing another round of embarrassment after footage surfaced showing him apparently walking uninvited into a closed-door meeting between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The incident happened Friday (12 December) in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where Sharif had reportedly been kept waiting for over 40 minutes for his own scheduled meeting with the Russian leader.
The video, first shared by state media outlet RT India, shows a visibly impatient Sharif and his delegation, including Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, entering a room where Putin and Erdogan were deep in conversation. The Pakistani prime minister shakes hands with both leaders before sitting down, but the whole thing looked brief and awkward. Reports say he left the room just ten minutes later.
RT India later deleted the post, issuing a clarification that the video “may have been a misrepresentation of the events.” But by then the footage had already spread all over social media, fueling a narrative of diplomatic snubbing.
The incident took place on the sidelines of the “International Peace and Trust” forum in Ashgabat. While Sharif did eventually hold a separate bilateral meeting with Erdogan to discuss trade and the Afghanistan truce, his failed attempt to get meaningful time with Putin has overshadowed the summit for people back home.
Social media users in Pakistan were quick to criticize the protocol breach. “A huge international embarrassment,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Another commented, “After 40 mins of wait, even a delivery guy gives up. Sharif still didn’t.”
Opposition figures have jumped on this moment as proof of the country’s diminished standing. “Putin does not want to waste his time… even Trump did the same,” one viral comment read, referencing previous diplomatic slights.
This isn’t the first time Sharif’s interactions with Putin have drawn unwanted attention. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in 2022, the prime minister struggled repeatedly with his translation headset while in Putin’s presence. That moment also turned into internet memes.
The diplomatic gaffe comes at a tough time for Pakistan, which is desperately seeking foreign investment and discounted energy deals to prop up its struggling economy. While Islamabad is trying to warm things up with Moscow, Russia remains strategically closer to India, something underscored by Putin’s recent “warm and friendly” exchanges with Indian officials.
The Pakistani Foreign Office hasn’t issued an official statement clarifying what actually happened. But analysts say the incident highlights the challenges Islamabad faces trying to navigate a multipolar world where its traditional alliances are shifting.
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