PRIME Minister David Cameron has praised the "amazing" contributions of British Indians after a visit to one of the largest gurdwaras in the country.
Accompanied by Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South West, Paul Uppal, and community leaders, the prime minister was given a tour of the Gurdwara Sahib Leamington and Warwick in Warwickshire last Friday (February 6).
He said: “We should celebrate that our country is a successful multi-faith, multi-ethnic democracy.
“As with other British Asians, British Sikhs make an amazing contribution to our country: in business, in our military, in our communities, in our charities.
“Of course we need to do more to promote opportunity, but already today you can see people who in one or two generations can come here, build a future for themselves and end up at the top in politics, in business.”
The prime minister highlighted his Conservative Party's pro-India views and reiterated that British-Indian ties were “something very close to my heart”.
Cameron added: “The British-Indian relationship is something very close to my heart. It was the first major country I visited as leader of the opposition, and I have made three trips to India as Prime Minister.
“I had a very good meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when we met in Australia. I think all the elements are there – the trade relationship is good, India invest more into Britain than the rest of Europe combined, the links between our communities are very strong.'
He said: “I also think there's a growing understanding that the rise of India in the world, Britain and India as the world's oldest democracy and the world's largest democracy should be cooperating over vital international issues like climate change and supporting free trade.
“There is a real opportunity for us to work together.”
According to a recent analysis, India-born migrants form UK's largest population of foreign-born voters and could play a decisive role in some constituencies in the general election on May 7.
As per the 2011 Census, nearly over 400,000 Sikhs live in England which means they have a considerable influence on 50-100 seats of out of the total 650.
About 615,000 Indian-origin voters are expected to vote in the election and patterns suggest they are likely to prefer parties viewed positive about race-equality and immigration, says a new study titled 'Migrant Voters in the 2015 Election'.
Leaders of major parties, including Labour's Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrats' Nick Clegg, have been seen at Hindu temples and gurdwaras across Britain in the last few months as part of an attempt to woo the ethnic minority community.
