What a beautiful sight! Look around at world's leaders such as Donald Trump or Xi Jinping; would you be sorry if you did not get another look at them? And then look at Justin Pierre James Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, with his wife, Sophie Grégoire, and children, Ella-Grace Margaret, Xavier James, and Hadrien (surprisingly, this youngest son has only one name; but if he feels deprived, he can adopt the names of his namesake, Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus, Emperor of Rome from 117 till 138 AD, who is best known for Hadrian's wall which he built to protect Britannia, called England today, from savage northerners). The Trudeaus wore colourful silky Indish dresses. Canadian Sikhs are known in this country for their support to Khalistan; but some of them are clearly good tailors as well - just as Gujaratis also have a tailor amongst them who makes perfect fits for the prime minister of India. If I were Narendra Modi, I would tell the tourism minister, K.J. Alphons, to use pictures of the frolicking Justin family to publicize India as a tourist destination.

They spent the first few days sightseeing. Then Justin began his official visit by meeting Amarinder Singh, a patriot who hates Khalistanis. He took with him Harjit Singh Sajjan, the Canadian defence minister, who, at one time, was known for his Khalistani sympathies. This meeting was clearly meant to mend fences; its message was articulated by Trudeau: "We recognize that there have been misunderstandings and strong words in the past, and I was pleased to be able to make very, very clear that Canada supports one united India and that we are unanimous as a government, as ministers on this issue... We look forward to continuing to work together - understanding, of course, that Canada values freedom of expression, defending human rights, and a broad range of perspectives...We will always stand against extremism, either at home or abroad, but we understand that diversity of views is one of the great strengths of Canada." What he meant was that the government of Canada was against Khalistan; if some Canadian Sikhs campaigned for Khalistan, he would not lock them up, but he would stop them from smuggling arms into or financing terrorists in India.

Justin is a perfect Shahzada, though Narendra Modi omitted to call him that. When I lived in Ottawa in the 1980s, Pierre Trudeau, Justin's father, was prime minister. A Quebecois, he was a man of guts. Quebec, mainland Canada's eastern province, was originally settled by the French, and continues to speak French; the rest of Canada speaks English (more accurately, Canadian children learn both languages in school, but speak one language or the other at home and work). The Quebecois were agitating to leave Canada and form their own independent country; Pierre Trudeau disagreed. In a public meeting, separatists started throwing stones; Trudeau sat on calmly in his seat, undeterred by the threats. Trudeau visited India in 1983, accompanied by his 12-year-old son, Justin. Now, Justin has visited India with his 10-year-old son, Xavier. Will Xavier come back to India as Canadian prime minister in 2050? I cannot wait to find out.

Justin went with his family to Akshardham in Ahmedabad, Golden Temple in Amritsar and Jama Masjid in Delhi. It is not all piety; they also went to Taj Mahal in Agra, and to the Modern School ground in Delhi. And then, there was business: Justin went and spoke in Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; he also met Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan along with other Bollywoodians, and invited them to collaborate with the Canadian film industry and start dancing and pirouetting on Canadian sites in their films. They would have been persuaded if he had offered to act in the films.

The fancy dress travel show left Canadians somewhat bemused. One thing that upset them was that Narendra Modi, known for his warm hugs, did not receive Justin at the airport, did not accompany him to Ahmedabad, and did not post a welcome on social media. "We are used to seeing him welcomed like a star; something is missing this time," said a Canadian professor. It may be that the first week of Justin's visit was private and hence unfit for prime ministerial effusion; but since the office of neither prime minister issued an explanation,those who so wished could treat it as an insult to the Canadian prime minister.

Toronto Sun attributed the cold shoulder to Justin's flirtation with Khalistanis, noting that he attended a Khalsa Day parade in Toronto in April 2017 where he spoke with a Khalsaite flag in the background (the flag which, incidentally, flew on Red Fort for one day - in 1783). It wrote, "After all, how would Canadians feel if a foreign head of state was seen as promoting the FLQ - a terrorist organization responsible for bombings and murders in pursuit of Quebec independence in the 1960s? Canadians would be rightfully upset and suspicious, as many of our Indian friends are of Trudeau and his Liberal delegation."

Justin threw an official party in Delhi, to which Randeep Singh Sarai, one of the Canadian Sikh MPs who was in Justin's India delegation, invited Jaspal Singh Atwal. In 1986, Atwal had ambushed and nearly killed Malkiat Singh Sidhu, the then planning minister of Punjab, who had gone to Vancouver Island to attend the wedding of his nephew; Atwal was sentenced to 20 years in jail for the crime, though he got out much earlier for good behaviour. After Atwal attended the party and had his picture taken with Sophie Trudeau, Sarai owned up responsibility for the invitation, and Justin said the invitation should not have been issued.

Justin Trudeau got away from the sub-zero temperatures in Canada and had a great holiday in India with his family. But his closeness to Canadian Sikhs, some of whom have indelible links with the Khalistan movement of three decades ago, did him collateral damage; so the diplomatic gains of his trip to India were zero at most. Can he retrieve the damage? It is difficult; the government of India does not forgive easily. Should he try? If he does, he may lose the support of some Khalistanis at home. It should not matter; Khalistanis would be a fraction of the fewer than half a million Sikhs in the Canadian population of 36 million.

But he might do better if he lured away Indian information technology companies from California to Canada at a time when Donald Trump wants to drive them out of the US. Info-techies are easier to deal with than the government of India, and their expertise would be more valuable than better diplomatic ties. Many heads of state have wooed India under the impression that it is on the verge of becoming a superpower. But it is entrepreneurs and innovators that create a superpower, not ministers and bureaucrats. Despite our prime minister's ambition, our government simply does not have the intelligence and nimbleness to transform India's fortunes. Indian businessmen and professionals have a clearer vision of where they want to go. Justin should create a cyber city in Vancouver or Victoria and populate it with clever Indians.