PM Modi, Pak's Shehbaz Sharif in same frame, several spots apart at SCO summit in China
Leaders of member countries and invitees stood in multiple rows for a customary group photo at SCO reception; Narendra Modi, Shehbaz Sharif were in front row
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif did not share any bonhomie during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China — and that was along expected lines after the recent military conflict — but they had to be in the same frame at the official reception in the evening, in Tianjin on Sunday.
Modi was warmly welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping as they held bilateral talks, too, in a reset of ties in the backdrop of trade tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.
The realignment, however, did not extend to China's longtime ally and India's western neighbour Pakistan.
Modi raised terror issue with Xi, says Indian foreign ministry
The Indian side in its briefing said Modi raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in his bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping. The official press communication did not expressly mention Pakistan, though.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said PM Modi “did underline the fact that this (cross-border terror) is something that impacts both India and China," and that it is important to understand and support each other.
Not long ago, India after a retaliatory Operation Sindoor against terror bases in Pakistan said China supplies 80% of the weapons to Pakistan.
But Trump's tariffs have led to newer diplomatic needs and, thus, the India-China reset now, five years after their relations went frosty as soldiers clashed in Galwan over a decades-old border dispute.
Both have now said the border question is being addressed but won't alone determine their equation. Modi is in China for the first time in seven years for the two-day SCO meet.
How SCO ‘family photo’ went
At the summit reception at the end of Day 1 on Sunday, leaders of all member countries and the invitees stood in multiple rows for a customary group photo. The officials called it a “family photo”.
Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif were in the front row, but there were at least eight persons between them.
At the centre was China's Xi Jinping, and next to him was Russia's Vladimir Putin.
Modi also met a number of leaders, including those from the immediate neighbourhood, for individual chats.
On his X handle, he shared photos too, such as one with Nepal's KP Oli, calling the two countries' ties “deep-rooted and very special”.
Once a bitter critic of India, President Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives also featured in Modi's photos — their latest expression of altered stances.
Modi met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of the Myanmar junta, too, and expressed hope for free and fair elections soon in the country.
Modi and the Sharif brothers
There was no report of any interaction between Modi and Shehbaz Sharif as India has a position of “no talks until terrorism is stopped”.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar said last week that his country “will not beg for talks” and was ready to "respond to aggression with full force”.
In the past, Modi has tried to reach peace through the Sharifs.
He famously invited Shehbaz's elder brother Nawaz Sharif, who was PM then, to his first-term oath ceremony in 2014; and later paid the Sharif family a visit in Pakistan. These bold moves continue to draw Modi criticism at home, argguably because they did not yield the results that were expected.
Persistent terror attacks, including the most recent one in Pahalgam, have anyway kept the hostilities up.
The summit, on the whole, was a show of Global South solidarity. Xi told the leaders that the SCO now bears "greater responsibilities" for safeguarding peace and stability.
There were 20 foreign leaders at the ‘SCO Plus’ summit with China hosting as this year's chair of the 10-member bloc. The permanent members are Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Belarus. Of these, India and Pakistan were added in 2017; Iran and Belarus after that.
