Observing at a rally in this temple town that "God is Great," Modi welcomed the decision ending a 10-year boycott of him imposed after the 2002 post-Godhra riots, calling it "important" and "better late than never".
Modi made these remarks at the rally on the concluding day of his Vivekananda Yuva Vikas Yatra (VYVY) ahead of the state Assembly elections in December. He asserted that BJP will not give away Gujarat to Congress.
"For 10 years, they(Britain) had no relationship with Gujarat and today they realised the importance of Gujarat. Whether the Manmohan Singh government in Delhi has understood or not, but the British government has realised the need to maintain relationship with Gujarat," the jubilant BJP strongman said.
Reacting to Britain's Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire's statement, Modi had earlier tweeted, "Der Aaye Durasta Aaye (Better late than never)!! Iwelcome UK Govt's step for active engagement & strengthening relations with Gujarat. God is Great," Modi tweeted.
"Today the British government took an important decision. Better late than never. Ten years ago in 2003, they decided not to have diplomatic relationship with Gujarat. In Gujarat, the highest investment today is by British. And when Britishers decided not to have relationship with Gujarat, Europe too followed the same path," he said.
BJP National President Nitin Gadkari, Chief Ministers of Chhattisgarh and Goa, Raman Singh and Manohar Parrikar respectively were also present at this temple town where Modi concluded his Yatra.(MORE)