Thank you. Mahatma Gandhi—on Monday, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled in Cardiff Bay, opposite the Wales Millennium Centre. This was the result of three years of hard work and fundraising by the Hindu Council of Wales, and I would like to pay tribute to that organisation and its chair, Vimla Patel, who’s worked tirelessly to make the statue a reality. Hundreds of people attended the ceremony to view the statue, which was made in India by sculptors Ram Sutar and his son Anil Sutar. The 6ft-tall statue, which many of you may have already seen, depicts Gandhi holding a stick and a Hindu scripture, and I think that this was a great day for India, a great day for Cardiff and a great day for Wales. And, for me, it was an honour to be a patron of this project.

I hope that the children and young people of Cardiff and of Wales will learn about Gandhi and his values, which are increasingly important in such an uncertain and violent world. I was privileged to sit next to the great-grandson of Gandhi at the ceremony, at what would have been his great-grandfather’s birthday. It was very fitting to be unveiling a statue of him at this time, 70 years on from the partition of India. Gandhi was committed to Indian independence and he was committed to non-violence. The statue also recognises the strong links between Wales and India. I’ll end with Gandhi’s words:

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.’