At an international forum in Turkmenistan celebrating the 30th anniversary of the country’s permanent neutrality on December 12, an unusual moment unfolded involving Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sharif was scheduled for a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the event. However, as shown in a video shared by RT India, the meeting was delayed, leaving Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar waiting in an adjacent room for around 40 minutes.
With no update and growing visibly impatient, Sharif eventually walked into a closed-door meeting where Putin was already in talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — appearing to attempt a brief interaction with the Russian leader.
Sharif exited the room about 10 minutes later.
The clip quickly spread across social media, with many users portraying the episode as a diplomatic misstep and mocking the optics of the encounter.
The forum itself marked a significant milestone for Turkmenistan, whose status of permanent neutrality was unanimously recognised by the UN General Assembly on December 12, 1995. The policy obligates Ashgabat to remain outside military alliances, avoid involvement in conflicts except in self-defence, and limit foreign military activity on its soil.
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