Ashgabat: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif managed to turn a routine bilateral slot with Russian President Vladimir Putin into an international comedy sketch, triggering a memefest for the amount of embarrassment he drew in Turkmenistan at the International Forum for Peace and Trust organised in Ashgabat.

Shehbaz Sharif, who is forever touting his balancing act between Moscow, Beijing and Washington, found himself waiting for a full 40 minutes in a side room with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, waiting for a meeting with Putin that never happened. The increasingly impatient red-faced Sharif, who sensed that the unprecedented situation has led to his mockery worldwide, apparently decided to march straight into the adjoining hall where Putin was locked in a closed‑door conversation wit

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