The jokes were hilarious, the handshakes sincere and the occasion spontaneous. That, at least, is what we are supposed to believe about the display of trilateral bonhomie between Narendra Modi of India,

President Trump’s repeated claims about having “solved” the India-Pakistan war infuriated Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. And that was only the beginning.

Trump and Modi have supported each other during their respective administrations and drawn close ties, with Modi hailing Trump as instrumental to nurturing relations between the countries and pledging to "make India great again," but that dynamic has shifted sharply in the face of Trump's tariffs on India.

At the SCO Summit, PM Modi and Putin met on the sidelines during bilateral talks, where Russian President stressed strong ties with India amid Trump’s oil penalty.