Five things that have gone wrong on Trudeau’s trip to India
It was all supposed to be so simple: Go to India, show off our Indo-Canadian cabinet ministers, sign a trade agreement or two and cap it all off by glad-handing with everyone’s favourite world leader, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Instead, it’s turned into a parade of foreign gaffes that hasn’t truly been seen since Jean Chrétien went to Israel. Below, the top five gaffes (so far) of Justin Trudeau’s adventure in India.
COSTUME CHANGES A BIT MUCH
Indians are reporting that Trudeau’s attire is a bit “too Indian.” While most Indian politicking is done in suits and Nehru jackets, Trudeau is parading around like a groom on his wedding day. It’s the equivalent of Modi spending a day in Canada in full rodeo gear, then the toque and ceinture of a voyageur and finally a 19th century tuxedo.
POLITICIANS SEEM TO BE AVOIDING HIM
Trudeau hasn’t scored any meetings with senior ministers, and has failed to meet with India’s prime minister. This isn’t all that unusual. India is a populous, emerging economy that has better things to do than hang around with America Junior. Still, it’s a little discordant that Trudeau is being brushed off by the huggiest leader in Indian history.
TRUDEAU PILLORIED BY FOREIGN MEDIA
After years of praising him as a handsome anti-Trump, the global media are suddenly revelling in the sight of Trudeau repeatedly tripping over proverbial coffee tables in India. As well as receiving blanket coverage in India, the disastrous nature of the visit has been covered by the BBC and the whole spectrum of U.S. cable media.
BROUGHT OUR CHEF TO COOK INDIAN
Vikram Vij, owner of the acclaimed Vancouver restaurant Vij’s, is in India with the official Canadian delegation. Vij is working for free, but Canada paid for his airfare and hotel. Contrary to some reports, Vij is not acting as Trudeau’s personal chef. Instead, the idea is that he’ll cater a gathering at the residence of the Canadian High Commissioner in order to show off Canadian culinary skills to foreign diplomats. So, it’s sort of like flying Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger to Germany in order to showcase the rich talents of German-Canadians.
INVITED TERRORIST TO DINNER
This is where a gaffeprone visit morphed into a full-blown foreign policy disaster. B.C. businessman Jaspal Atwal was invited to a Canadian diplomatic event Tuesday where he was photographed next to Sophie Gregoire Trudeau. Atwal is also a convicted terrorist, having attempted to assassinate a Punjabi cabinet minister in 1986. Keep in mind that this visit is happening amid widespread Indian accusations that Canada is nurturing a resurgence of extremist Sikh terrorism — and that the government is too incompetent to notice.