Queen Elizabeth II hosted a reception at the Buckingham Palace on Monday (Feb 27th) to launch the UK-India Year of Culture 2017 with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley representing the government at the historic event.

Jaitley was joined by an Indian delegation that included the likes of legendary actors Kamal Hassan, Suresh Gopi, former cricket captain Kapil Dev, singer and actor Gurdas Mann, fashion designers Manish Arora and Manish Malhotra and sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar, at the grand event this evening.

Tamil actor- filmmaker Hassan said that his name was recommended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was a huge honor. It was a great occasion to celebrate the shared history of both the nations. “English is the best example of that and I often refer it as a great Indian language that unites us all, he said.

Kapil Dev said that this kind of celebration between India-UK cultures should have happened long ago.

UK’s Indian High Commissioner Y K Singa invited the captain of the ‘1983 world cup winning team’ back to UK this June to launch a special cricketing event celebrating India-IK ties as part of the UK-India Year of Culture events, which he happily accepted.

The 90-year-old Queen was joined by her husband, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, and grandson Prince William and his wife Kate.

With a special Indian dance performance on the steps titled Ekam, presented by the Akademi and choreographed by Arunima Kumar the high-profile guests from various fields were greeted in the main foyer of the palace.

In the form of dance it showcased the cultural diversity of India.

Musicians from the Bhavan Centre in London performed Indian music with Balu Raghuraman on the violin and Shri Balachander on the Mridangam.

Malayalam superstar and politician Suresh Gopi said “As we celebrate this 70th year of Indian independence, we remember the soulful soul of Mahatma Gandhi. Gopi said that he was looking forward to having eye contact with the Queen. She is the longest reigning British monarch.

He said “We were under this regime and we have lots of good things they initiated in India, which we carry on with pride. But, we built over that and are zooming into one of the most developed nations."

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