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).
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.
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.
(L-R) Mongolian president Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, Turkmen president Serdar Berdymukhamedov, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Chinese president Xi Jinping, Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Tajik president Emomali Rahmon, Pakistani prime minister Shahbaz Sharif, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev pose for a family photo before the meeting in an expanded format at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on September 16, 2022. (Photo by SERGEI GUNEYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
This photograph taken on April 28, 2026 shows a boy getting "thali", a sacred thread tied to his neck symbolising marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom.Getty Images
This photograph taken on April 29, 2026 shows a member of the transgender community mourning as a priest cuts the "thali", a sacred thread symbolising end of her marriage to Hindu warrior god Aravan during the annual Koovagam transgender festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu's Kallakurichi district. For a few fleeting days each year, at the heart of the Koothandavar Temple where ostracised transgender community members from across India come to honour the Hindu deity Aravan, a tradition rooted in millennia-old Hindu texts -- and to enjoy a brief oasis of freedom. Getty Images
