Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is currently on a eight-day tour in India, and on Tuesday he rubbed shoulders with Bollywood celebrities including Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.
"Tonight, we celebrated stronger ties & new co-production opportunities between Bollywood and the Canadian Film Industry. And who better to help than @iamsrk himself... Great to meet you," the prime minister tweeted shortly after the meeting.
Pictures from the event shows Trudeau dressed in a sherwani and his wife, Sophie Gregoire, draped in a lovely off-white sari. Trudeau's daughter Ella-Grace and son Xavier also sport traditional Indian attires. However, his youngest, Hadrien, is missing in these pictures.
The Trudeaus landed in New Delhi last Saturday and they kicked off their tour with a trip to Taj Mahal in Agra. "For me to be able to be here on an official trip while bringing my kids with me to share this is really special and being able to enjoy this as a dad with my kids is really nice," he said after the visit.
They then flew to Gujarat where they visited Mahatma Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram and the Akshardham Temple. He also held a discussion with the students at the Indian Institute of Management there.
Trudeau's bilateral meeting with India's prime minister Narendra Modi is scheduled for February 23.
Trudeau’s India tour got off to an awkward start after Modi sent a junior minister from the agriculture department to meet him at the airport. Modi often greets his counterparts on their arrival and he was present on the tarmac to greet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his trip last month.
According to reports, Trudeau may have received this lukewarm reception due to India’s concerns about the prime minister's perceived soft approach to Sikh extremist groups in Canada.
Trudeau, meanwhile, downplayed the alleged snub, and said he was looking forward to meeting Modi on Friday.
“I have met with the prime minister in various places around the world and looking forward to sitting down with him on Friday,” he told reporters.
Peter Bedford
Alberto Costa 
