UK Foreign Secretary thanks India for "very senior representation" at Queen's funeral 

NEW YORK: UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has expressed gratitude for the representation by Indian President Droupadi Murmu at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, saying it was really noticed.

President Murmu attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday morning.

"I would like to say a huge thank you for the very very senior representation that India sent to Her Majesty the Queen's funeral. I had the opportunity to meet President Murmu and it was really noticed," Cleverly said in an interview here on Wednesday on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session.

Cleverly, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom under the new administration of Prime Minister Liz Truss, also met his Indian counterpart External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar late on Wednesday evening at the sidelines of the UNGA.

During her three-day visit to London, Murmu visited Westminster Hall and offered tributes to the late British monarch on behalf of the Indian government and the people of India.

Murmu also attended the reception hosted by UK's King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

The Indian head of the State, who arrived in London on Saturday evening, joined around 500 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, and royals from across the world in a congregation of around 2,000 people at the Abbey for a somber ceremony to bid farewell to Britain's longest-serving monarch.

The funeral for the late queen, who died aged 96 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, was held at Westminster Abbey in London in the presence of thousands of guests and millions watching on screens worldwide.