Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, made netizens giggle when he was pictured fumbling with his headphones. It was during a private meeting with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, outside the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
The state-owned news agency of Russia, RIA, posted a video of Putin smiling while Shehbaz struggles with the headphones. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, led by former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, also tweeted the video (PTI).
It also indicated that Shehbaz was requesting an assistant for help, but even with the assistant’s help, his headphones kept falling off.
A PTI member called PM Shehbaz a “continuous disgrace” to Pakistan.
Another image posted by former deputy speaker of the national assembly and PTI provincial president of Balochistan Qasim Khan Suri poked fun at Shehbaz’s delegation, which included defence minister Khawaja Asif, finance minister Miftah Ismail, and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, for “sitting idly like a beggar.”
He made the statement after Shehbaz tweeted, “It was a long but productive day in Samarkand. In my meetings with leaders of our friendly countries, we agreed to enhance trade and investment. I explained the flood ravages due to climate change. Food and energy shortages present a real challenge to our shared development agenda.”
In response, Suri tweeted, “But in the picture, one party is writing a note and the other is sitting idly like a beggar.”
PM Shehbaz is in Uzbekistan for a two-day trip to attend the SCO summit. According to reports, both leaders will discuss the Pakistan Stream gas project.
According to the Russian media, Putin said on Thursday that pipeline gas deliveries to Pakistan are feasible and that some of the required equipment is already in place.
On Friday, President Putin and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan met in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the margins of the SCO conference.
The high-level discussion took place after the prime minister travelled to the capital of Uzbekistan for a two-day visit, from September 15 to 16, in order to attend the annual meeting of the SCO’s Council of Heads of State (CHS).