The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin became a stage for strained optics between India and Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif shared the same venues but made no attempt to interact, underlining how raw ties remain after months of confrontation.
In a photo shared by PM Modi on X, the two are seen standing on different sides along with other leaders of the SCO bloc.
On day one of the summit currently underway in China's Tianjin, the Prime Minister was seen deep in discussion with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on energy and security cooperation, while Sharif lingered in the frame with his back turned.
At the traditional group photo of leaders a day earlier, the two were again kept at a distance on opposite ends of the lineup.
PM Modi-Shehbaz Sharif cross paths after Operation Sindoor
The silence in Tianjin cannot be separated from this year’s escalation across the Line of Control. On April 22, a terror attack in Pahalgam killed 26 civilians in Kashmir.
On May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor, a cross-border retaliatory attack on what New Delhi described as terror launch pads, striking deep within Pakistan. Islamabad called it an attack on its sovereignty.
The exchange pushed the neighbours closer to open conflict than at any time since the Balakot airstrikes of 2019, and the freeze in diplomatic engagement has continued ever since.
While Modi and Sharif stayed silent, the Prime Minister did sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting publicly flagged by both sides.
Modi pressed for border stability and raised India’s trade deficit with China, which has swollen to nearly 100 billion dollars.
The meeting carried the shadow of the Galwan Valley clash of 2020, which continues to define India–China relations despite calls for normalisation.
Trade headwinds from Washington
The SCO summit also unfolded against a backdrop of turmoil in global commerce. US President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed a 10 percent universal tariff and steep additional duties on Chinese goods, with only a temporary truce lasting until November 10.
India has been hit as well. Washington has slapped a 50 percent duty on Indian exports ranging from textiles and carpets to gems, jewelry and shrimp - a blow worth about 80 billion dollars, nearly two-thirds of India’s exports to the United States.
Small exporters are scrambling to find new markets in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Gulf, while New Delhi insists it will “not bow down” and is pushing fresh export promotion schemes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif shared the same venues but made no attempt to interact, underlining how raw ties remain after months of confrontation.
In a photo shared by PM Modi on X, the two are seen standing on different sides along with other leaders of the SCO bloc.
At the SCO Summit in Tianjin. pic.twitter.com/GbhyyxMDmL
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 1, 2025
On day one of the summit currently underway in China's Tianjin, the Prime Minister was seen deep in discussion with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on energy and security cooperation, while Sharif lingered in the frame with his back turned.
At the traditional group photo of leaders a day earlier, the two were again kept at a distance on opposite ends of the lineup.
PM Modi-Shehbaz Sharif cross paths after Operation Sindoor
The silence in Tianjin cannot be separated from this year’s escalation across the Line of Control. On April 22, a terror attack in Pahalgam killed 26 civilians in Kashmir.
On May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor, a cross-border retaliatory attack on what New Delhi described as terror launch pads, striking deep within Pakistan. Islamabad called it an attack on its sovereignty.
The exchange pushed the neighbours closer to open conflict than at any time since the Balakot airstrikes of 2019, and the freeze in diplomatic engagement has continued ever since.
While Modi and Sharif stayed silent, the Prime Minister did sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting publicly flagged by both sides.
Modi pressed for border stability and raised India’s trade deficit with China, which has swollen to nearly 100 billion dollars.
The meeting carried the shadow of the Galwan Valley clash of 2020, which continues to define India–China relations despite calls for normalisation.
Trade headwinds from Washington
The SCO summit also unfolded against a backdrop of turmoil in global commerce. US President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed a 10 percent universal tariff and steep additional duties on Chinese goods, with only a temporary truce lasting until November 10.
India has been hit as well. Washington has slapped a 50 percent duty on Indian exports ranging from textiles and carpets to gems, jewelry and shrimp - a blow worth about 80 billion dollars, nearly two-thirds of India’s exports to the United States.
Small exporters are scrambling to find new markets in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Gulf, while New Delhi insists it will “not bow down” and is pushing fresh export promotion schemes.
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