21st century should be defined by Mahatma Gandhi's message of compassion, non-violence: Rahul

The 21st century should be defined by Mahatma Gandhi's message of compassion and non-violence, Congress party president Rahul Gandhi said here today.

Rahul, who is the first foreign Leader of Opposition to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament, said that India and the UK are connected as they fight people on ideas.

The other prominent speakers who have spoken at the Grand Committee Room in the House of Commons are Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, former South African president Nelson Mandela and former president of erstwhile Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev.

"What connects India and the UK is that we fight people on ideas... in the 21st century, the greatest idea is compassion and non-violence as laid out by my hero Mahatma Gandhi," he told an audience of parliamentarians and local political leaders.

"Even though the British ruled us, they left us with many ideas and some strengths as well," he said.

He also hailed the Indian-origin politicians that are part of the British political establishment.

"It is rooms like this from where Britain governed India... and many Indian people are today helping run Britain. How far the world has come," he said at the event titled 'India and the World' attended by senior Opposition Labour party MPs Keith Vaz, Virendra Sharma and Seema Malhotra.