Gandhi's letter to be presented to President during her UK visit

Some of the rare letters, postcards and articles signed and autographed by Mahatma Gandhi, will be formally presented to President Pratibha Patil when she arrives here next week on a three-day state visit.

Leading NRI entrepreneurs Sir Gulam K Noon and Professor Nat Puri, who had bought these articles in an auction here in July will hand over them to Patil at a function in India House here next Wednesday.

The rare articles comprise three letters written by Gandhi to Maulana Abdul Bari, an islamic scholar and a leading figure in the Khilafat movement. The letters are written in Urdu.

The letters referred to the Hindu-Muslim relations, including communal tension in Lucknow, and to the personal friendship of the Mahatma and the Maulana. In one of the letters written from prison, Gandhi thanked Bari for the gift of cotton for spinning. Bari (1878-1926) worked closely with Gandhi from 1918 onwards.

President Patil, who arrives here on Monday, will be accorded a ceremonial red carpet welcome at the Windsor Castle on Tuesday morning when her three-day state visit commences.

This is the first time an Indian President is visiting UK in nearly two decades. She will be guest of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. The same day, the leader of the opposition David Cameron and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, will call on the President.

According to official sources, The Queen will host a banquet in honour of the visiting President and her husband Dr Devisingh Ramsingh Shekhawat in the night at Windsor Castle. The next day, President Patil and Shekhawat will visit the Natural History Museum and view the Darwin Centre including the Attenborough Studio and Climate Change Wall.

Later in the day, the president will visit 10, Downing Street and hold talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown on bilateral and international issues. In the evening, the President will attend a reception hosted by Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall and discuss work of the British Asian Trust.

In the night, she will attend a Banquet at Guildhall given by the Lord Mayor and City of London Corporation. President Patil will be present in the Buckingham Palace on Thursday when the Queen will formally launch the XIX Commonwealth Games Baton Relay.

During the day, she will attend the UK India Business Council Summit at Lancaster House and address the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for India at the Palace of Westminster.