India, Britain have come long way since their parting 'at the stroke of the midnight hour': Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said India and Britain have come a long way since the parting 'at the stroke of the midnight hour'.

"Today, India and Britain have come a long way since their parting at the stroke of the midnight hour. In Parliament Square, there is also a statue of Sir Winston Churchill, arguably the man who opposed Gandhi. Some would detect an irony in the great Prime Minister sharing a public space with the man he once described as a 'half-naked fakir'. What will link Churchill and Gandhi together is their strength of character," Jaitley said while speaking at the event here.

"Gandhiji will find himself permanently in stone very close to the place he occupied transiently in flesh and blood on his first night in London more than 125 years ago. Gandhiji's struggle to break Britain's imperial hold over India and to force the world's oldest democracy to create the world's largest one is a stuff of history and legend," he added.

Jaitley also said that Gandhi was moved to tears at the thought that Westminster Abbey might be bombarded during the Battle of Britain.

"But even as he waged the struggle, he admired Britain, valued many of the things that it stood for and cherished his friendship with scores of Britishers. So great was his regard for British values, that he would condemn many unfair and unjust practices as being un-British," he added.

Earlier, Jaitley unveiled Mahatma Gandhi's statue at Parliament Square here along with British Prime Minister David Cameron.