Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in China for the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. He joined leaders from eight member nations, including Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. PM Modi held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, focusing on strengthening India-China bilateral relations.
Pak PM's 2022 Headphone Fiasco
For Shehbaz Sharif, the international stage has not always been smooth.
At the 2022 SCO summit in Uzbekistan, he found himself in the spotlight for an unexpected reason. During a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sharif struggled to adjust his translation headphones.
The device kept slipping off, prompting a brief but audible laugh from Putin just as the discussion was about to begin. Despite the help of aides, the issue went on for a while before the meeting could proceed.
The moment was captured on video by Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, showing Shehbaz Sharif asking, "Can somebody help me?"
The clip went viral, drawing criticism within and outside Pakistan.
Domestic And International Backlash
Former Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri shared a photo of the Pakistani delegation, including Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, commenting on their passive demeanor during the summit.
Opposition figure Shireen Mazari also voiced her disapproval online. The episode even crossed borders, gaining attention internationally.
US comedian Jimmy Fallon referenced the incident on his show, joking, "the surprising thing is that Shehbaz Sharif is the prime minister of the 220 million population of the world."
Shehbaz Sharif's Controversial Moments
Shehbaz Sharif's international appearances have seen other moments of controversy. In June 2023, during the Global Financing Pact summit in Paris, a video showed him taking an umbrella from a female staff member, leaving her exposed to rain.
In January this year, he congratulated US President Donald Trump on his return to the White House through a post on X, only for the platform to flag it as a violation of Pakistan's ban on the site.
Earlier, the Pakistan PM also faced criticism for sharing a doctored image of a Chinese PHL-03 rocket launcher as part of a diplomatic gift.
