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President Pratibha Patil has described the UK and India as "natural partners" who are set to shape the course of the 21st century.
"Our bilateral relations have been, for some time now, perhaps better than they have ever been before - we are conscious of the need to continuously nurture it," the president told a gathering of some 150 guests at a state banquet hosted in her honour by Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's reigning monarch, in Windsor Castle.
"India and the UK are natural partners with an impressive array of complementarities," Patil said, adding the two countries had much in common, their capital cities representing a "microcosm of the world with people of different religions and races living together."
"Our countries are forward-looking, adapting to the challenges and trying to shape the outcome of the 21st century," she said.
Patil spoke to a glittering gathering that included, besides the Queen and her husband Prince Philip, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Foreign Minister David Miliband, the High Commissioners of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Businesss Minister Lord Peter Mandelson, 'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling, the sculptor Anish Kapoor, the leaders of all the main British political parties, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Speaker of the British parliament, and several leading members from the nearly two million-strong Indian diaspora in Britain.
The Queen, while referring to the sturdy and glowing ties between India and the UK, mentioned that the two nations “have a long shared history which today is a source of great strength in building a new partnership fit for this new century."
"Nearly two million of our own citizens are tied by descent and enduring family links to India," said the Queen.
"They represent one of the United Kingdom's most dynamic and successful communities..They have enriched our society, and continue to refresh and strengthen the bonds between our two countries”, she added.
