File Photo: British Prime Minister David Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday thathe congratulated Narendra Modi for winning more votes than any other politicianin the universe during his phone call after the "extraordinary"Indian election.



"I won't forget my conversation with Prime Minister Modi congratulatinghim on his victory. I picked up the phone and said, 'It's great to be talkingto someone who just got more votes than any other politician anywhere in theuniverse'," he said.



Cameron disclosed his private conversation with India's newly-elected leaderduring an address to Britain's Indian community at an annual event hosted bythe Conservative Friends of India in London.



"Britain and India now both have bold reforming governments that believein free enterprise and progress," he said.



The Conservative party leader used the forum to canvass for Indian-origin votesin the UK's upcoming general election due in May 2015.



"Elections are won in the heart rather than the head. And actually what isat stake at the next elections are not just the policies and plans but thevalues that lie behind them," he said.



"That is where I believe British Indians have so much to contribute tothis fight that we have in front of us. The values that will help Britainsucceed are the values that your communities hold dear," he said.



Invoking Mahatma Gandhi, Cameron said: "As Gandhi said, the best way tofind yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others".



Cameron said the India-UK ties was "extremely strong" but "Idon't actually think we have yet even scratched the surface of how far thisrelationship can go."



He outlined three key elements that would help build the relationship furthercommitment, respect and ambition.



"I know that with India on the rise, Britain should not for one momenttake for granted this relationship. As leader of the Conservative party and asPrime Minister, I have given this relationship real commitment."



"The first overseas visit I made as PM was to India. I have visited Indianow more times than any country apart from Brussels, where I have to go moreoften than frankly I would like to," he said, making light of his ongoingclashes over greater political control within the European Union.

This is a relationship that should be based on respect.Both our countries face a terrible threat from terrorism and we shall alwayswork together and fight this together, Cameron added.





"But also respect for the histories, religions, traditions of our respectivecountries," he said referring to his visit to Amritsar last year."I will never forget my visit to the Golden Temple, one of the mostbeautiful, serene and moving places I have ever been to. Sometimes during thetrials and tribulations of this job, I think of that and wish I could be thereagain. I am very proud to have been the first serving Prime Minister to makethat visit," he said amid wide applause from a large number of BritishSikhs.We should also show respect for each other's past and our shared past, he said."I think it's absolutely a brilliant decision that we made this week tohave in Parliament Square, alongside statues of Lloyd George and Churchill andMandela, in time a statue of one of the greatest men of the 21st century MahatmaGandhi," Cameron added in reference to the recent announcement in India ona new Gandhi statue for London.The British PM also listed "three fabulous facts" that proved therelationship between the two countries can get "even stronger.""Firstly, Indian business is investing more into the UK than the rest ofthe European Union put together; second, UK is the biggest inward investor intoIndia, so the economic partnership is getting ever greater; and fact numberthree is that Britain's biggest diplomatic presence anywhere in the world isactually in India," he said."I think that is a testament to the scale of opportunity that we see inthis absolutely vibrant relationship," he said.

The Conservative Friends of India (CFI), co-chaired by Indian-origin MP AlokSharma and businessman Ranjit Baxi, is aimed at building stronger links betweenthe Conservative Party, the British Indian community and India.The annual event was attended by senior politicians, MPs as well as the IndianHigh Commissioner to the UK, Ranjan Mathai.



