Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif featured in the front row while Russian President Vladimir Putin stood right next to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the host, as the leaders attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China’s Tianjin posed for a family photo on Sunday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, hosted a banquet in the country’s port city of Tianjin to welcome international guests ahead of the 25th edition of the annual summit being held there.
The photo showed that Jinping, the leader of the host nation, was standing right in the centre and was flanked on the left by his wife, Peng Liyuan, and by his Russian counterpart Putin on the right.
Modi, representing India at the forum, stood in the front row alongside Jinping, Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoan, and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, among others.
This is the first time since Operation Banyanam Marsoos Modi and Shahbaz Sharif have been seen on the same platform.
This year, apart from the regular SCO members – China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus, non-member states who are either Observer States, Dialogue Partners and invited guests are attending the Summit.
Also, the representative heads of international organisations, including the United Nations, Asean, and the Commonwealth of Independent States are also going to make their presence count at the SCO Summit.
