Nehru was beacon not only to India but also to the world, says Rahul Gandhi

Emphasizing the role of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the development and protection of the democratic principles of India, Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that his great grandfather's ideas and politics occupy an important position even today, adding that he had been a beacon not only to Indians but also to the world.

"India is a country where democratic principles are cherished deeply. Even the poorest person in India understands what democracy is. Nehru developed and protected these democratic ideals and that is why today India is a nation where one sixth of humanity lives in peace," Gandhi said, while addressing at the international conference held to mark the 125th birthday celebrations of Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Congress vice-president further said that Nehru is revered not only in India but also across the world as he represented freedom.

"He was a beacon to millions of Indians and indeed to the world because he represented freedom. Nehru's fight was for all of mankind and that is why Nehru's imprint is felt not just in India but across the world," Gandhi said.

Gandhi further said that Nehru is an integral part of India's history and took a jibe at those opposing Nehru's ideals.

"Nehru himself is an integral part of India as much as rivers and fields of this country, the country he loved very much. He is a part of living India. His ideas and politics are very much present here today, even though there are those that are trying to erase him, to rub him out of history, to remove his legacy from this country he so dearly treasured," he stated.

The Gandhi scion began his speech by expressing gratitude to former

Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, Queen Mother of Bhutan Ashi

Yangdon, former Ghana president John Kufuor, former president of

Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo and all the other leaders and dignitaries

present at the event.