Trudeau makes fun of his ‘trip to end all trips’ to India
TORONTO: Nearly four months after Justin Trudeau’s disastrous visit of India, the Canadian prime minister has seen the lighter side of the trip, making self-deprecating digs at an event in Ottawa.
Speaking at the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner last week, Trudeau began his 15-minute speech with a slideshow showing an upside down map of India — symbolic of his visit.
He came on stage as the song Jai Ho played, sending out a warning: “In the interest of national security, I should disclose that Randeep Sarai was in charge of the guest list tonight, so just watch your back.”
Sarai is the MP who took responsibility for facilitating the presence of Jaspal Atwal during an official reception in India. The matter went viral on Canadian media as Atwal was convicted of an attempted assassination of a minister from Punjab.
“Despite the blaring wallto-wall international ridicule, it was a pretty good trip,” he said, even as the slide of his arrival at New Delhi came up and showed him received by minister of state Gajendra Shekhawat. This was in sharp contrast to the warm welcome from Prime Minister Narendra Modi that marked the arrivals of other foreign dignitaries — an issue highlighted by the media as a “snub” from the Indian government. Trudeau joked about the criticism he received for the Indian outfits he wore during that visit. A slide displayed a photo of him meeting Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, and Trudeau deadpanned: “But you guys
didn’t report on its because I was wearing a shirt and tie. Boring.”
Next, a photo of Trudeau meeting Shah Rukh Khan in Mumbai came on screen, with the actor dressed in a suit and the prime minister in a golden sherwani. Trudeau said: “Well, one of us is seriously underdressed. How embarrassing for him!”
Opposition leaders too ribbed Trudeau for his trip. New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh complained that his main problem was Trudeau’s dance moves at an official reception in New Delhi could “turn off Canadians” from the bhangra. He then followed that up with an impromptu lesson on some bhangra steps.
Trudeau left the best for the last, with the final slide showing his wife Sophie Gregoire: “What a gorgeous photo, media couldn’t stop talking about this one…such a beautiful dress.” The photo in question was of Gregoire standing next to Atwal. However, in the slide, Atwal had been edited out of the photo, something Trudeau and his team would certainly wish had happened for real.
Trudeau ended with a rueful: “That was India, the trip to end all trips. Seriously, I’ve told my team I’m not going anywhere ever again!”