Queen Elizabeth II was a stalwart of our times: PM Narendra Modi

PM Narendra Modi recalled his “memorable” meetings with Queen Elizabeth II in 2015 and 2018, saying he would “never forget her warmth and kindness”.

Hours after Buckingham Palace announced the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday remembered her as a “stalwart of our times”, saying she “provided inspiring leadership to her nation and people” and “personified dignity and decency in public life”.

PM Modi recalled his “memorable” meetings with the Queen in 2015 and 2018, saying he would “never forget her warmth and kindness”.

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered as a stalwart of our times. She provided inspiring leadership to her nation and people. She personified dignity and decency in public life. Pained by her demise. My thoughts are with her family and people of UK in this sad hour,” he said.

“I had memorable meetings with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during my UK visits in 2015 and 2018. I will never forget her warmth and kindness. During one of the meetings she showed me the handkerchief Mahatma Gandhi gifted her on her wedding. I will always cherish that gesture,” Modi said.

Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years. She was 96. The palace announced she died at Balmoral Castle, her summer residence in Scotland, where members of the royal family had rushed to her side after her health took a turn for the worse. A link to the almost-vanished generation that fought World War II, she was the only monarch most Britons have ever known, and her name defines an age: the modern Elizabethan Era.