TIANJIN, CHINA – A diplomatic blunder at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, China, has gone viral. During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was seen on tape fumbling with his translation headset. The video, which has been shared a lot on social media, shows Sharif’s headset falling off his ears over and over again, even though he keeps trying to fix it.
The video shows a funny moment when Putin smiles and, at one point, picks up his own headset to show Sharif how to wear it. Many people on social media are talking about this event, and a lot of them are remembering a similar one from 2022 when Sharif also had trouble with his headphones in front of the Russian leader.
People on social media have been talking and asking questions about the incident, like, “Why does he always get so nervous in front of Putin?” “Again and again!?”
Sharif has already had an embarrassing moment at the SCO Summit. People made fun of him online for having a “awkward handshake” with Putin. A video of the event showed Sharif running to shake hands with Putin while the Russian leader was strolling with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The video also shows Xi seeming to turn aside when Sharif gets closer.
The SCO Summit in Tianjin, which started on August 31 and lasted for two days, brought together leaders from the 10 member states: India, Belarus, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. The main topics of the meeting were regional security and fighting terrorism.