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Politics

Justin Trudeau Won’t Stop Putting His Hands Together in a Kurta Until He Has All of the Brown Vote

Justin Trudeau really, really wants Indian people to like him.

At this point, it would be impossible for you not to have noticed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on business in India. He and his family’s wardrobe choices have left no room for ambiguity.

Though Trudeau is technically in India for official business, people have pointed out that he’s yet to meet with a senior Indian politician. What he has done a lot of is pose in matching traditional costumes with his family while pressing his hands together.

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They did it at the Sabarmati ashram, where Mahatma Gandhi lived, and at least three times while getting off an airplane. At one point in the trip, the PM even sported a groom’s outfit complete with a flower garland normally worn at weddings. Dressed in a heavily embroidered gold sherwani, Trudeau also met with a cohort of Bollywood stars, including hugely popular actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan—both of whom wore black suits.

While the Trudeaus’ efforts to pay tribute to Indian culture are admirable, it seems some people feel it’s a little extra.

Speaking to CNN, Vivek Dehejia, a senior fellow at Mumbai-based think tank IDFC Institute, said, “all you can see are the Lonely Planet-style pictures of his family at the Taj Mahal and in Gujarat, but he's not had a single official event.”

This isn’t the first time Trudeau’s foray into brown culture has raised eyebrows. His “Diwali Mubarak” greeting back in October also sparked a minor controversy. The fruits of his latest trip have yet to be seen, though he will almost certainly never be able to hold a candle to Laureen Harper’s bhangra dancing.

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