His trip to India may have began without a bump but Canadian leader Justin Trudeau has another method of diplomacy up his sleeve… or pants leg.
Trudeau was snubbed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who failed to meet them at the airport and instead sent a junior agriculture minister.
It was 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.
But it appears Trudeau has decided to launch a charm offensive to win over Modi, by putting his best foot forward in a set of Darth Vader socks.
Justin Trudeau donned Darth Vader socks (pictured) as he kicked off his week long diplomatic trip to India
Canadian PM Trudeau was visiting the Taj Mahal at the start of a visit to India in which he will aim to promote trade and investment with India
It appears that the Canadian Prime Minister may be attempting to bond with Modi over their shared love of Star Wars. Last summer Modi left the stage after a speech to Darth Vader’s Imperial March (pictured)
The footwear may seem an unusual choice for a world leader but it appears that the Canadian Prime Minister may be attempting to bond with Modi over their shared love of Star Wars.
The Indian Prime Minister made headlines of his own last July when he decided to exit a speech on corruption at the Institute of Chartered Accountants to the villainous Vader’s Imperial March.
Many were surprised by Modi’s unusual choice to liven up a potentially dry speech.
But the 67-year-old has history with the franchise. In 2014, he ended a speech at Central Park, New York by wishing the crowd: ‘May the force be with you.’
Trudeau has a long history of combining his love of novelty socks with diplomacy. He wore a Chewbacca pair in September at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum with Dutch PM Mark Rutte
On May 4, 2017, national Stars Wars fan day, he wore an R2D2 sock, and a C3PO sock for a meeting in Montreal with the former Irish prime minister, and fellow Star Wars fan, Enda Kenny
Other choices are less obvious, such as the purple pair with yellow ducks he wore to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January
Today, Trudeau was seen wearing socks featuring Vader and other Star Wars iconography as he wandered round the Taj Mahal with his wife and children on Sunday as he began a week-long visit to India.
The 46-year-old appears to have a vast collection of novelty socks – including a whole array in a Star Wars theme.
On May 4, 2017, national Stars Wars fan day, he wore an R2D2 sock, and a C3PO sock for a meeting in Montreal with the former Irish prime minister, and fellow Star Wars fan, Enda Kenny. He also cracked out a Chewbacca pair in September at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum with Dutch PM Mark Rutte, the Financial Times reports.
Some of his choices make a clear statement, such as the NATO socks he wore in May this year during a meeting with Angela Merkel and other leaders in Brussels, and he has a couple of pairs of patriotic maple leaf socks which he has worn on national days of importance such as Canada day.
He has a couple of pairs of patriotic maple leaf socks which he has worn on national days of importance such as Canada day
These ultra patriotic socks feature both the Canadian maple leaf and a Canadian mountie
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sported a pair of socks with a skull and crossbones motif in Davos, Switzerland in 2016
When not making a political statement, the prime minister still plumps for a jazzy pair of socks to brighten up an outfit
Other choices are less obvious, such as the purple pair with yellow ducks he wore to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.
His love of a novelty sock has become so well known that he was recently gifted some polar bear socks from James Quicey, president and CEO of Coca-Cola.
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.
Justin Trudeau, his wife Sophie Gregoire and his three children are pictured visiting the Taj Mahal at the start of a trip to India
Trudeau’s children, from left: Xavier, 10, Hadrien, 3, and Ella-Grace, 9, joined their parents for a photoshoot on the famous bench
Sophie Gregoire (left) wore a colourful full-length blue dress as she posed for the pictures
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.
Trudeau is scheduled to visit Modi’s home state of Gujarat on Monday before jetting off to India’s financial capital of Mumbai for talks with CEOs and business leaders the next day.
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.