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dated March 17, 1956: A unique friendship

Prime Minister Nehru has described India's friendly relationship with Britain as unique in the world. Speaking at a civic reception given in New Delhi on March 15 by the Delhi Municipal Committee to Lord and Lady Mountbatten, he said, "The uniqueness of this friendly relationship lies in the fact that the two countries are bound with each other neither with chains of steel, nor with ropes, nor even with silken threads. It is a relationship which does not rest on the shaky foundations of a pact or the like. It is a friendship between two independent countries following their own paths, sometimes holding divergent opinions, and yet trying to cooperate with each other." Mr. Nehru said that on this occasion different pictures came before his mind of the time of the advent of independence because that time was intimately connected to a great extent with Lord and Lady Mountbatten. It was a time of test for the whole of India, and especially for the people of Delhi. In that test some people passed and some failed. In this test Lord and Lady Mountbatten had succeeded. It was certainly because of them that many difficult problems were solved. They also helped in tackling other problems. It was a strange thing that it was in those days that a near relationship was established between India and Britain. Mr. Nehru said the history of a country was not made by big personalities. It was made by the people and their sentiments and their struggles. But at times the personality of a person left its mark. The biggest personality that left its impress on the history of India was no doubt that of Mahatma Gandhi. But the personality of Lord Mountbatten also played its part in the history of those days. Mr. Nehru said the coming together of India and Britain after the freedom struggle and the culmination of the British rule of 200 years was unparalleled in the world.

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