Mahatma Gandhi Stands Tall Next to Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square

Mahatma Gandhi was not particularly welcome in Britain during India's struggle for independence, but the former colonial power now has a giant statue of him right across their seat of government, alongside a statue of Winston Churchill, who once derided him for "posing as a (half-naked) fakir."

The nine-foot bronze statue will be unveiled in London's Parliament Square today by British Prime Minister David Cameron along with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

"It is a time to look at the future of the India-UK relationship rather than some of the differences we may have had in the past," Mr Cameron told NDTV when asked if he regretted Churchill's critique of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi will be the first Indian and the only person never to have been in public office to be honoured with a statue in the square. The statue has been funded by donations of over a million pounds to the Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, headed by Labour Party peer Meghnad Desai and his wife Kishwar Desai.

Exactly a hundred years ago, Mahatma Gandhi came back to India from South Africa to begin his non-violent struggle for India's independence from British rule. "Mahatma Gandhi is not just an inspiration to Indians or British-Indians but an inspiration to the whole world," British Finance Minister George Osbourne told NDTV last July, when announcing the decision to install the statue.

That sentiment is certainly a far cry from the emotions Gandhi invoked in Winston Churchill, Britain's World War II Prime Minister. Not many people feel like Churchill did any more. "The British empire did need taking on," said a bystander in Parliament Square. "It couldn't have remained the way it was in the early 20th century and something had to be done. And the way the Mahatma did it was really inspiring as far as I am concerned."

Mr Desai told NDTV that Britain ought to be given credit for now recognizing Gandhi. "He was a thorn in their side but I think they recognised that he is a man of integrity. I think that has to be noticed today in the kind of effort they are putting out for the unveiling, with the Prime Minister himself going to be there."