Namaste India: Trudeau starts India visit with namaste greeting

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Meeshika Sharma
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's state visit to India has officially started as he arrived with his family in New Delhi on Saturday evening.publive-image

The family, including wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, and kids Xavier, 10, Ella-Grace, 9, and Hadrien, 3, emerged from the plane and delivered a traditional Indian welcome greeting, with their hands clasped together and their heads slightly bowed, to the delight of officials and Indian media waiting on the ground.

The Trudeaus were greeted by Nadir Patel, Canada's high commissioner in India, his wife, Jennifer Graham, and their two-year-old daughter, Nylah.

Hadrien did his best to steal the show, making off down the red carpet with the flowers handed to his father by an Indian official, leaving the rest of his family to manage the receiving line.

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Trudeau's trip to India included a refuelling stop in Rome, where Trudeau got out the kinks out midway through the 20-hour long journey by going for a run with his protective detail.

The seven-day Indian state visit is a mix of business meetings, round tables on education, women's rights and human rights, tours of popular Indian sites and a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the week.

Wheels up for India and a busy visit, focused on creating good jobs and strengthening the deep connection between the people of our two countries,” Trudeau posted on his official Twitter account, along with a photo of the family boarding the plane in Ottawa.

publive-imageVikas Swarup, the Indian high commissioner to Canada was also on the red carpet for the arrival, live tweeting shots waiting for the plane to land and once it was on the ground, saying that “a long wait is finally over.”

Indian Minister of State for agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was the first to shake hands with the Trudeau family and was the one who gave Trudeau the bouquet Hadrien later absconded with.

Trudeau’s first full-day itinerary Sunday includes a flight to Agra for a tour of the famed Taj Mahal before returning to Delhi for a round table with non-governmental organizations.

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