PM Modi Sharing Moments Of Friendship, Laughter With Presidents Putin And Xi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were seen arriving together at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, before engaging in a warm exchange that drew the spotlight. Video and photographs from the venue showed the three leaders shaking hands and sharing a light conversation, showcasing a moment of visible camaraderie amongst the heavyweights of the grouping. The visuals also captured PM Modi and Putin walking past Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as he looked ahead standing alone, making him appear on the sidelines of the gathering. The moment follows earlier images from the summit that placed Modi and Sharif at a distance, first in the family photo, where they stood several places apart, and then at the banquet, where they were seen with their backs turned to each other. The Tianjin summit comes at a time of heightened global flux, with India–Pakistan relations strained after Operation Sindoor in May, India–China ties thawing but still shadowed by the border standoff, and global trade tensions rising following US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff hikes, including 50% duties on Indian exports.