Canadian PM Justin Trudeau poses in Indian dress on tour

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau poses in Indian dress on tour



Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has been photographed in traditional Indian dress during the third day of his week-long visit to the country.



Trudeau posed at the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat - Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's home state - while wearing a long red shirt.



But once again Modi was not there to greet the leader of the world's second-biggest country, fuelling speculation he is being snubbed.



Trudeau also sat by as his wife, Sophie Gregoire, had a go at spinning cotton on a wheel at the ashram, which was home to Gandhi for 12 years





Yesterday he toured the Taj Mahal with his wife and children.



The family was pictured larking around by the famous marble bench where Princess Diana once sat looking forlorn and alone in 1992, and where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge returned in 2016.



Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire and their three children posed for a family portrait before marvelling at the legendary marble monument frequently visited by foreign leaders. 



It came after an apparent 'snub' at the start of his trip when the country's PM Narendra Modi failed to meet them at the airport and instead sent a junior agriculture minister.



The image of Diana looking forlorn and alone on the bench as her marriage to Prince Charles crumbled became one of the iconic images of their failed relationship.



But two years ago William and Kate marked happier times as they posed for pictures together on the marble bench. 





Trudeau will spend the week talking with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about how they can boost their relationship.



But the arrival was a far cry from when former US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Israel and the UAE made the trip, with Modi patiently waiting for them on the tarmac.



Trudeau and Modi will hold talks on civil nuclear cooperation, space, defence, energy and education.



Trade between Canada and India has doubled in the last decade to just over $8 billion in 2016, a figure which India's foreign ministry says 'does not reflect true potential'.



At Davos last month, while President Donald Trump supported new tariffs on imports, Trudeau and Modi came out forcefully against a drift toward protectionism in the global economy.



Canada is home to more than 1.2 million Indians - more than three percent of its population - with Sikh members of Trudeau's cabinet joining in the visit.





The delegation will walk a diplomatic tightrope in Punjab where Trudeau will visit the Golden Temple - the holiest site in Sikhism, and the scene of a bloody massacre of religious separatists in 1984.



After visiting Amritsar in Punjab on Wednesday, Trudeau will meet Modi and Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi following a welcome at the presidential palace and a wreath-laying at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial.



Modi visited Canada in 2015 and addressed a crowd of 10,000 from the Indian diaspora in Toronto.