In pictures: World leaders and awkward handshakes

Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe shaking hands on 10 November 2014 on the sidelines of the Apec summitGetty Images

China's President Xi Jinping and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looked decidedly awkward as they shook hands on Monday.

Their muted - though politically significant - encounter at the sidelines of the Apec summit in Beijing was not surprising, given that relations are at a low over territorial disputes.

It's not the first time Mr Abe's attitude been described as chilly. And he is far from the only world leader to have been caught looking uncomfortable in front of the cameras.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin

In this handout image provided by Host Photo Agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and U.S. President Barack Obama shake hands during an official welcome during the G20 Summit on September 5, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia.Getty Images

Mr Putin and Mr Obama avoided eye contact at the G20 Summit at St Petersburg in September last year. The two countries had just disagreed on whether to take military action in Syria and Russia had refused to extradite American whistleblower Edward Snowden.

French President Francois Hollande and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

French President Francois Hollande (R) shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the 69th United Nations General Assembly on 23 September 2014 in New York.AFP

Mr Hollande seemed less comfortable than Mr Rouhani when they met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September this year, amid talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Mr Hollande said he expected "concrete gestures" from Iran to show it was not developing nuclear weapons.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mr Putin, again

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Normandy Barriere hotel in Deauville on June 6, 2014AFP

Amid heightened tensions over Russia's annexation of Crimea, Mr Putin received what one analyst called a "visual castigation" from Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel at the D-Day 70th Anniversary commemoration in northern France in June this year.

Britain's Prince Charles and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe

Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, shakes hands with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe during Pope John Paul II's funeral in St. Peter's Square on 8 April 2005 in Vatican City.Getty Images

Britain's Prince Charles attracted criticism in 2005 when he shook hands with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe who sidestepped a European Union travel ban to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II in the Vatican.

Former US President George Bush and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown

US President George W. Bush (2nd R) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2nd L) and his wife Sarah (L) as he arrives at Royal Airforce Station Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, on 16 June 2008.AFP

Was it a handshake? A hand-clasp? It's not clear in this photograph of the two men in 2008, when Mr Bush visited Northern Ireland on a tour of Europe.

And finally...

Prime Minister Tony Abbott (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose for a photograph next to a haulage truck tyre during a tour of the Rio Tinto West Angelas iron ore mine in the Pilbara on 9 July 2014 in the Pilbara, West AustraliaGetty Images

So it's not an awkward handshake, but Australia's PM Tony Abbott and Mr Abe nevertheless raised eyebrows when they posed for this photograph in July while touring a mine in Western Australia - a moment which News Limited called a "cringe-worthy corker".