Queen to Host UK-India Year of Culture Launch: UK Minister  

London: Queen Elizabeth II will host a spectacular UK-India Year of Culture launch at Buckingham Palace at the end of this month to strengthen the special cultural partnership between the two countries.

UK's senior-most Indian-origin minister, Priti Patel, who will be among the key Cabinet ministers at the event, described it as a real demonstration of the strong ties between the two countries.

The Palace had officially announced the date of the reception as February 27 in the monarch's engagements calendar earlier this week: "Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh will give a reception to mark the launch of the UK India Year of Culture 2017."

Queen Elizabeth II, 90, is the world's longest reigning sovereign and has become the first British monarch to reach a Sapphire Jubilee, with 65 years on the throne. The reception is expected to attract hundreds of guests from across various fields in the UK and India, including a senior Cabinet minister from the Indian side.

"Throughout the year, we are going to see great works of art, great collaborations, all the cultural aspects coming together and a real demonstration of how strong our cultural ties are. It is going to be really exciting," Patel said.

The Conservative party MP, who has completed six months in office as minister in the Department for International Development (DfID), described her last few months in the post as a "humbling and rewarding" experience.

She has been on several visits to war-torn regions and has just returned from Lebanon and Jordan, countries at the heart of the Syrian refugee crisis.

This new vision includes a changed aid relationship with India, where the UK focuses on project-based support after its traditional bilateral aid system came to a close in 2015.

"We don't give traditional aid to India but India is still home to 290 million of the world's poorest people. So there is more that we can do with regard to supporting poverty reduction, jobs and livelihood and economic development in India," she said.

PTI