Clad in kurta-pyjama, Justin Trudeau made his maiden appearance at an event celebrating India’s Independence Day after he became Canada’s Prime Minister and won the crowd over by concluding his speech with “Jai Hind”.
While multiple events marked the 71th anniversary of India’s independence and were held on the first Sunday following August 15, the India Day Unity Parade in Montreal was the one that drew the Prime Minister.
The reason for that was the route of the parade, which commenced at Avenue Ogilvy and ended at Parc Howard, fell within the constituency of Papineau that Trudeau represents in the House of Commons, the lower chamber of the Parliament.
Trudeau addressed the gathering and garnered applause as he concluded with “Jai Hind”.
Home in my riding of Papineau for Indian Independence Day celebrations! Long live the friendship between our two countries. pic.twitter.com/FYdodH2Kwg
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 20, 2017
#GreatIndianWelcome This is what happens when a sitting Prime Minister attends an #IndiaDayParade in his own constituency. @JustinTrudeau pic.twitter.com/0cUczrwBM2
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
He also tweeted, “Home in my riding of Papineau for Indian Independence Day celebrations! Long live the friendship between our two countries.”
Among those delighted at his presence was Surinder Kumar, one of the founders of the India Canada Organisation (ICO), which hosts the annual parade: “He’s not a stranger to us. But this was a great honour for us. People were crazy for him. It was a good show.”
ICO’s vice-chair Rajesh Kapoor pointed out that Trudeau spent nearly 90 minutes at the parade. He said that while the parade is now in its 15th year, Trudeau has participated on multiple occasions earlier as a federal MP and then as leader of the Liberal Party.
And it was a privilege to present a plaque to PM @JustinTrudeau on behalf of 1.2 billion Indians and 1.2 million Indian-Canadians pic.twitter.com/xIzVAs3siN
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
It was a pleasure to address the #IndiaDayParade in the presence of PM @JustinTrudeau & speak about the promise & potential of 🇮🇳🇨🇦ties pic.twitter.com/suNPbhReuj
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
PM @JustinTrudeau also gave a fabulous speech. Spoke of the special partnership between #Canada & #India and ended with a rousing #JaiHind! pic.twitter.com/MpirFhulK7
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
And it was truly wonderful to have PM @JustinTrudeau participate in the #IndiaDayParade & spend so much time with members of the community. pic.twitter.com/LhTHHIl38M
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
India is taking a leadership role when it comes to tackling climate change. It is inspiring to work along side them. pic.twitter.com/hfW1KXnnNf
— Catherine McKenna (@cathmckenna) August 20, 2017
But what made this year’s appearance special was, he said, “This was the first time as PM.”
While the parade had been affected by rain last year, the weather this year was “great”, making for “an amazing experience”, Kapoor said.
Marching alongside Trudeau was India’s high commissioner Vikas Swarup.
“It was wonderful to have the Prime Minister of Canada participate in an India Day Parade, spend the good part of almost two hours with the community, speak in very positive terms about the contributions Indo-Canadians are making to Canada and end his speech with ‘Jai Hind’. And he seems to have a fabulous collection of Indian kurtas,” Swarup said.
The envoy drove for the Montreal parade after attending the one in Ottawa earlier in the day. The Ottawa event featured Trudeau’s cabinet colleague, environment minister Catherine McKenna. Another cabinet member, science minister Kirsty Duncan was present at the India Day Parade in Toronto, the largest in the country, and was joined on stage by a host of MPs and local politicians.
Given its popularity in recent years, the Toronto event shifted this year to a large venue, City Hall, while it featured a record number of floats representing a number of Indian states.
Trudeau was thronged along the parade’s route and as is his style, often stopped for selfies with many of those marching to observe India’s independence. He spoke briefly to those assembled at the venue, highlighting the partnership between India and Canada and extolling the achievements of the Indo-Canadian community.
He also said that as Canada marked the 150th year of confederation this year and India celebrated it’s 71st year of independence, it was “time to reflect” on the world’s two largest democracies, “one by population and one by surface area, and what we’ve learnt and what we do well”.
Unprecedented full page coverage in The Hill Times of our August 15 Independence Day Reception at Delta Hotel. Thank you @shruti_shekar pic.twitter.com/G9nLcPhqew
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
It was great to see my friend MP @frankbaylis at the #IndiaDayParade in Montreal as well as MP @AHousefather pic.twitter.com/fg85uYIak6
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
From Ottawa to Montreal. 2nd India Day Parade in a day for me! This one organized by the India Canada Organization and other partners. pic.twitter.com/zuitPSY8h0
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 21, 2017
Hum hain #Indiawale aur yeh hai hamari #IndiaDayParade pic.twitter.com/RnmBXRvRea
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 20, 2017
At City Hall we were joined by Mayor @JimWatsonOttawa, Minister of Environment @cathmckenna, MP @ChandraNepean & Councillor @QaqishPolitico pic.twitter.com/zvMZv17BsL
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 20, 2017
Here's a little video of the #IndiaDayParade in Ottawa as it made its way through Parliament Hill pic.twitter.com/zBIi5Gm7wq
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 20, 2017
And a live band Highland of Ottawa led the #IndiaDayParade all the way though there was plenty of Bollywood music too! pic.twitter.com/AxiM0xSeOq
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 20, 2017
Celebrating India. Delighted to join the Indian Community in Ottawa for the 2nd #IndiaDayParade pic.twitter.com/iKvs3s73nD
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 20, 2017
Celebrated Ontario's vibrant Indo-Canadian community with @vikasswarup, India's High Commissioner to Canada, on #IndependenceDayIndia. pic.twitter.com/9K4bgqnB3U
— Kathleen Wynne (@Kathleen_Wynne) August 16, 2017
Niagara Falls becomes Freedom Falls to commemorate 70th Anniversary of India's Independence. Great to see it draped in Indian flag colours. pic.twitter.com/oW5cfcUOmb
— Vikas Swarup (@VikasSwarup) August 16, 2017
