- Monday, March 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The opposition Indian National Congress on Friday (16) slammed prime minister Narendra Modi over his standing position in a group photo of the leaders of the eight regular members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during its 22nd summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Gaurav Gogoi, deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha or lower House of the Indian parliament, tweeted a picture of the group photo which showed Modi standing on the extreme left.
He said, “A poor show at the beginning from Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister Modi. Our strong nation India is positioned at the extreme end and balanced by Pakistan at the opposite end.” He also added in Hindi, “mujhe laal ankhe nehi balki bandh ankhe dikhai de raha hain” (what I am seeing is closed eyes, not angry eyes).
A poor show at the beginning from Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister Modi. Our strong nation India is positioned at the extreme end and balanced by Pakistan at the opposite end. मुझे लाल आँख नहीं बल्कि बंध आँख दिखाई दे रहा है | https://t.co/LbZb8X88P2
— Gaurav Gogoi (@GauravGogoiAsm) September 16, 2022
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif was seen standing on the other extreme. Chinese president Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin were seen occupying the central positions. Modi was also the only leader not wearing a suit but the traditional Indian kurta-jacket combo.
Some social users posted another picture from the 2013 summit of the SCO in which former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh was seen standing in the middle of the group.
— Arpit Srivastava (@arpitsriv12) September 16, 2022
India and Pakistan became full members of the grouping in 2017.
However, in another picture from the latest summit featuring all members of the grouping besides the permanent ones, Modi was seen standing in the front row besides Chinese president Xi.
