Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was left in an awkward position on Friday as he waited for more than 40 minutes to meet with Vladimir Putin. The top official had eventually interrupted a bilateral meeting between the Russian leader and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
According to an update shared by RT India, the Pakistani leader had waited for more than 40 minutes in the hopes of meeting with Vladimir Putin. He had eventually ‘grown tired and gate-crashed’ a meeting between the Russian and Turkish leaders. The interaction was short-lived with Sharif departing about ten minutes later.
Bilateral meetings in Turkmenistan
Pakistani media outlet Dawn reported that Sharif had also held a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the event in Turkmenistan. The two leaders had discussed ongoing security issues along the Afghanistan border and reiterated their commitment towards stronger bilateral ties during the interaction. State broadcaster PTV News reported that Sharif had also held informal talks with several world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the international forum.
The interactions took place on the sidelines of the International Forum on Peace and Trust in Turkmenistan on Friday. World leaders from more than 15 countries had gathered in Ashgabat for the session with covered neutrality as a basis for cooperation, the link between peace and sustainable development, and promoting a culture of peace through education and youth initiatives.
Continued friction?
The awkward encounter has since gone viral on social media platforms with many linking it to the recent interactions between Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sharif had also found himself going viral for all the wrong reasons during a September meeting with Putin where he fumbled repeatedly with his headphones amid the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.