Gatecrash Diplomacy: After 40-Minute Wait, Pakistan PM Walks Uninvited into Putin Meet

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif faced an awkward and humiliating moment on the global stage when he was seen walking into a closed-door meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, looking like a desperate attempt to get noticed after being ignored.

 

 

The incident took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, during an international event marking the country’s neutrality anniversary. While world leaders followed strict diplomatic protocols, Pakistan’s Prime Minister was left waiting for nearly 40 minutes, a clear sign of Pakistan’s shrinking importance in global diplomacy.

 

 

With no formal invitation and no scheduled entry, Shehbaz Sharif was caught on camera walking into the Putin-Erdogan meeting, accompanied by his delegation, including Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The visuals showed Sharif standing awkwardly, exchanging forced smiles, before leaving the room within minutes, visibly ignored.

 

 

The video quickly went viral, drawing global ridicule and embarrassment for Pakistan. Social media users mocked the Pakistani Prime Minister for what many described as a “gatecrash born out of desperation.” Even Russian media outlet RT India quietly deleted its post, indirectly admitting that the episode exposed an uncomfortable diplomatic reality.

 

 

Where India enjoys strong strategic ties with Russia, Pakistan is struggling to even secure a proper bilateral meeting. The episode highlighted how Pakistan’s leadership now resorts to chance encounters and corridor diplomacy instead of meaningful engagement.

 

 

Political analysts called the incident a symbol of Pakistan’s failed foreign policy, pointing out that a Prime Minister of a sovereign nation being made to wait, and then reduced to a brief, awkward appearance reflects deep diplomatic isolation.

 

 

Back home, Pakistan’s government remained largely silent, unable to defend what has been widely described as an international insult. Critics within Pakistan too questioned how the country’s Prime Minister was reduced to such a spectacle on foreign soil.