News Desk: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office has triggered a fresh controversy after sharing a cropped version of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders’ group photograph, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other leaders were missing.
The photograph was taken during the 26th SCO Council of Heads of State Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on September 1. The Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office posted the edited image on X, showing Sharif prominently near the centre of the frame. Prime Minister Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and several other leaders were cropped out.
The original photograph, however, showed all the participating leaders, with Sharif positioned fourth from the right, rather than at the centre. The complete image was shared by the Indian PMO and PM Modi on their official social media accounts.
Sharif later posts the full picture
The controversy intensified after Sharif himself later shared the uncropped group photograph, restoring Modi and the other leaders who had been left out of the Pakistan PMO’s earlier version. The Pakistan PMO did not publicly explain why the original photograph had been cropped.
The episode drew considerable attention online, with critics accusing Islamabad of attempting to give Sharif a more central visual position at the summit. However, there has been no official statement confirming the reason behind the cropping, so the motive should not be treated as established fact.
😂 Photoshop diplomacy, anyone?
First, PM Modi magically disappeared from Pakistan’s SCO photo. ✂️
Then the backlash arrived. 🔥
And suddenly… poof! The FULL photo is back. 📸Nice save, Shehbaz ji. 😏#SCOSummit #SCO2026 #IndiaPakistan #NarendraModi pic.twitter.com/TRFA9dnLsS
— Mir Ilyas (@Mir_Ilyas_INC) September 1, 2026
Incident comes after Modi’s strong terrorism message
The photo controversy came shortly after Prime Minister Modi delivered a pointed message at the SCO summit on terrorism.
Addressing the gathering, Modi said there could be “no place for double standards” in the fight against terrorism. He called for dismantling the entire ecosystem involving terrorist financing, recruitment, radicalisation and safe havens, and said countries using terrorism as an instrument of policy must be given a strong message that terrorism cannot be a strategic asset.
India and Pakistan remain sharply divided over cross-border terrorism, making the visual controversy particularly sensitive.
SCO marks 25 years
The Bishkek summit also marked the 25th anniversary of the SCO. India stressed the need to move the organisation towards concrete results based on three broad pillars—Security, Connectivity and Opportunity.
The cropping episode has therefore added an unusual social-media dimension to an otherwise significant multilateral summit, where India and Pakistan shared the same diplomatic platform despite continuing bilateral tensions.
