After 40 Mins of Waiting, Pakistan PM Sharif Walks Into Putin–Erdogan Meeting at Turkmenistan Summit

for a bilateral meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the event, held to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s official UN-recognised permanent neutrality. But after waiting for 40 minutes in an adjacent room with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Sharif entered the venue where Putin and Erdoğan were already in discussions, reportedly hoping to secure a brief interaction. He left after roughly ten minutes.

Footage of the moment, shared by RT India, quickly circulated on social platforms — with many users mocking the incident as a diplomatic misstep. The forum marks a major milestone for Turkmenistan, whose permanent neutrality policy, endorsed in 1995, restricts the country from military alliances, foreign military bases, and non-defensive involvement in conflicts.