Pakistan has triggered a fresh diplomatic controversy after its Prime Minister’s Office appeared to crop Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other leaders out of an official Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit photograph, a move that has drawn sharp criticism in India and renewed questions over Islamabad’s diplomatic conduct.
The edited photograph, shared by the Pakistan PMO from the SCO Council of Heads of State summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, showed Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif positioned prominently while several other participating leaders were missing from the frame. Prime Minister Modi was among those cropped out. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders were also reportedly excluded from the altered image.
The controversy quickly escalated because the Indian Prime Minister’s Office shared the complete photograph, making the difference between the two versions immediately visible.
Pakistan’s controversial attempt to reshape the image
The episode has been widely viewed as an unnecessary and embarrassing attempt to manipulate the visual presentation of a multilateral diplomatic event.
Rather than reflecting the collective nature of the SCO, the edited photograph appeared to place Sharif at the centre while removing several leaders who were actually present at the summit. The decision has therefore attracted criticism as petty political optics rather than serious diplomatic messaging.
The incident is particularly striking because the SCO is a multilateral organisation where member states are expected to participate on the basis of cooperation and collective engagement. Selectively altering an official summit image risks creating an impression that Pakistan’s priority was domestic political presentation rather than diplomatic decorum.
The Indian side, by contrast, released the original group photograph, in which Sharif was clearly visible alongside the other leaders.
Eknath Shinde delivers sharp warning
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde strongly criticised Pakistan over the controversy and warned that such tactics would not diminish India’s standing.
Shinde said Pakistan should understand that India cannot simply be removed from the global picture through image editing. His remarks reflected the broader political anger in India over what was perceived as an attempt to deliberately erase Modi from a major international gathering.
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The controversy also prompted criticism from former Union minister MJ Akbar, who described the episode as an example of Pakistan making itself the subject of ridicule at an international forum. He also pointed out that the edited framing appeared to place Sharif in the centre while pushing other major leaders toward the margins.
Modi’s SCO message puts terrorism in focus
The photo controversy came against the backdrop of a much more consequential moment at the SCO summit.
In his address, Prime Minister Modi called for the dismantling of the entire ecosystem supporting terrorism, including terror financing, recruitment, radicalisation and safe havens. He stressed that terrorism cannot be accepted as an instrument of state policy and called for an uncompromising international response.
Although Modi did not explicitly name Pakistan in the speech, his comments were widely interpreted in the context of India-Pakistan tensions and New Delhi’s longstanding allegations regarding cross-border terrorism.
The contrast between the two developments was stark. While Modi used the international platform to discuss terrorism, security and cooperation, Pakistan’s official social-media machinery became embroiled in a controversy over the presentation of a photograph.
Pakistan’s diplomatic optics under scrutiny
The episode raises uncomfortable questions for Islamabad about how it wants to project itself on the international stage.
Cropping leaders from an official multilateral photograph does not change who attended the summit, nor does it alter India’s diplomatic or geopolitical position. Instead, such an action can create the impression of insecurity and an excessive focus on symbolic rivalry.
The controversy also carries added significance because Pakistan is set to assume the SCO chairmanship after the Bishkek summit and is expected to host the next leaders’ summit. That responsibility will require Islamabad to demonstrate diplomatic maturity and an ability to represent a diverse group of member states fairly.
Sharif later shares the full photograph
Following the backlash, Sharif subsequently shared the complete group photograph on his personal social-media account, according to reports. The development effectively underlined the contrast between the original summit image and the selectively cropped version circulated earlier by the Pakistani PMO.
For India, the episode has become another example of what critics describe as Pakistan’s misplaced focus on symbolic one-upmanship. Removing Modi from a photograph may alter pixels, but it cannot alter the reality of India’s presence at the SCO or its role in the organisation.
The controversy ultimately serves as a reminder that international diplomacy is judged not merely by speeches and summit appearances, but also by conduct. In this case, Pakistan’s decision to manipulate an official group photograph has generated far more attention than the image was presumably intended to attract—and has left Islamabad facing criticism over an avoidable diplomatic embarrassment.
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