Jagdeep Dhankhar Congratulates King Charles On Coronation

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar concluded a two-day visit to attend the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey in London with a message of goodwill to the royal couple.

Mr Dhankhar, who arrived in London on Friday, joined an estimated 100 Heads of State and government from around the world invited to the historic crowning of Britain's new monarch.

On Friday, he interacted with King Charles at a reception soon after his arrival to attend the majestic Coronation ceremony.

"Happy to be present at the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla today. On behalf of the people of India, I extend my warmest congratulations to the newly crowned King and Queen of the UK," the Vice-President's office said in a Twitter statement.

"May India-UK ties grow stronger in the years ahead," it said.

Before his departure for New Delhi, Jagdeep Dhankhar also had an intimate interaction with UK-based Indian students organised by the Indian High Commission in London on Saturday evening.

At the gathering of students enrolled at prestigious UK universities, Mr Dhankhar said India was proud of their achievements and talent and called on them to play the role of goodwill ambassadors of the country.

He went on to highlight the many strides made by the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and stressed its strong democratic credentials.

"India takes its position on global affairs on its own understanding, for its own welfare and world peace. India is emerging as a superpower," said Mr Dhankhar.

"The share of India's working age population to total population will reach the highest level by 2030. It will be 68.9 per cent. No other country can make such a claim... transparency and accountability are the mantras behind this. Our power corridors, governance corridors have been fully sanitised of power brokers," he said.

Reiterating his call to the wider diaspora population he interacted with on Friday evening, the vice-president said it was incumbent upon Indian students based in the UK to counter false narratives about the country.

"If you don't approve of it, you must antidote it. A false narrative about such a vibrant democracy is antithetical to our national interest if we don't react. And, I have no doubt, the most powerful reaction always comes from rational minds," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)