Marked by a strong bonding between their prime ministers, Indo-UK ties witnessed an upswing in 2009, especially in fields like education, IT and trade, with president Pratibha Patil's October visit here proving to be icing on the cake as it helped cement the bilateral relations.
Patil's October 27-29 visit, first by an Indian head of state in two decades, coincided with the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay, which will culminate with the start of the Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi next October.
While Patil hit off well with Queen Elizabeth II, prime minister Manmohan Singh forged a close relationship with his British counterpart Gordon Brown at the political level.
In fact Brown has often described Singh as "my old friend" and the two are in constant touch with each other on all major international issues, be it the global economic crisis, Afghanistan situation or counter-terrorism.
Britain is also working closely with India in its ambitious task of upgrading and expanding its education system. India is keen to develop a number of centres of technical excellence in the country in which Britain, with its highly-skilled manpower resources could play a key role.
During her UK visit, president Patil emphasised a great deal bilateral relations, describing India and the UK, with their traditions of diversity and democracy, as "natural partners" which were set to shape the course of the 21st century.
Prime minister Singh played an important role at the G20 summit here in April when leaders of the world's largest economies pledged a $1.1 trillion package alongside measures for a tighter regulation of international financial system to help bring the world out of recession.
The leaders agreed to another major Indian demand by deciding to sell IMF gold reserves to raise USD 6 billion that would go towards helping out the world's poorest countries with cheap loans over the next two to three years. There were also other senior level visits from India to the UK during the year.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee participated in the G-20 finance ministers meeting at St Andrews in Scotland. He was very vocal in expressing India's views that rich States must "contribute substantially" to funds that will help developing nations in the global fight against climate change.
India's Law and justice minister Veerappa Moily visited the UK to participate in traditional ceremonies marking the opening of legal year in England and Wales from September 29.
Petroleum and Natural Gas minister, Murli Deora, attended the 'London Energy Ministers Meeting', emphasising the need to rediscover a stable market with transparent regulations.
It was also yet another year of success for 'Incredible India' campaign, which received the World Travel Award for the best destination marketing campaign in November.
India's tourism minister Kumari Selja received the award at a glittering event organised in London. She also received an Asian Guild award in recognition of her outstanding performance as a tourism minister.
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