New Delhi: The controversy over Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office sharing a cropped group photo from the SCO Summit that left out Narendra Modi from the frame has evoked sharp reactions in India, especially from politicians.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called the move ‘extremely unfortunate’, and warned that the Indian Prime Minister can remove Pakistan from the ‘world picture’ if he wants.
“What Pakistan has done is extremely unfortunate. Pakistan has always attempted such things. However, I would say that while they may have removed Modi Ji’s photograph, if Modi Ji wants, he can remove Pakistan from the world picture,” Shinde was quoted as saying by ANI.
Shinde invoked Operation Sindoor and said Pakistan should not attempt to ‘play such games’ with India. “I would also say that such an act of removing a photograph cannot erase Prime Minister Modi from the hearts of 140 crore Indians. In fact, Prime Minister Modi remains one of the most popular leaders in the world,” Shinde said.
‘Laughing stock’
Editor-turned-politician M J Akbar, former minister of state for External Affairs, said Pakistan have become a ‘laughing stock’ at international forums.
“This is how Pakistan converts itself into the laughing stock at every international conference. That censorship of the photograph is the height of pomposity because you have to look at it carefully. Not only has our PM Modi been removed from the picture as if he wasn’t there, but the Pakistan PM has been put at the centre of the photo while China’s President Xi Jinping has been put on the margin,” Akbar said.
“Such hyper-pomposity is actually evidence of a very deep-seated inferiority complex, which is displayed over and over again by the Pakistan State, and in fact, it converts itself very quickly into extremely irrational behaviour, into terrorism… Wherever Pakistan sits, becomes the bottom of the table,” he added.
On Tuesday, Pakistan PMO’s post on X drew attention as the ‘family photo’ of all leaders attending the SCO Summit at Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek was cropped on both sides, leaving out PM Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and three others.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in a group photo with heads of States at the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on 1 September 2026,” the Pakistan PMO captioned the post.
Within a few hours, PM Shehbaz Sharif posted the original photograph featuring all leaders, including Modi.