Guests from the Hindu, Sikh and Jain communities attended a Diwali reception hosted by Nick Clegg .

Speaking at the annual reception, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted that he wanted to thank the communities for contributing to Britain so significantly throughout the year. He said: “Across the world, Diwali is such an important moment.

“It is a moment of joy, light over darkness, of good over evil, families coming together, of fireworks, colour, food, sweets. It is a truly joyful moment and celebrated in such spectacular style and I know a gathering like this cannot rival the events in Leicester, Trafalgar Square or in other parts of the world.

“But I just really wanted to express my own best wishes to you at such an important time.”

Other attendees at the reception included MP’s, Peers, community leaders and a number of charity and business representatives.

Earlier in the week, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced the winners of the inaugural Dadabhai Naoroji Awards, bestowed by the British Government for services to UK-India relations.

The Awards were judged by ministers following nominations from the public and attended by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

The winners were: Culture: actor Madhav Sharma, who has worked in diverse British productions including the Royal Shakespeare Company and Coronation Street, as well as touring India.

Education: Dame Asha Khemka OBE, founding Chair of the Association of Colleges India and member of the Indo-British Trade Council.

Commerce: Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, Chair of the UK-India Business Council Presenting the awards, Nick Clegg said: "It gives me great pleasure to present these awards to three outstanding individuals on behalf of the British Government. Patricia Hewitt, Asha Khemka and Madhav Sharma have worked tirelessly to strengthen the bond between the UK and India.

"As advocates of UK-India relations, their work continues in the same spirit as that of Dadabhai Naoroji, helping our two great nations work together to achieve fairness, mutual understanding and economic prosperity.

"The awards remind us that our relationship with India is one which we must continue to foster, and one from which both our nations have a great deal to gain."

The awards were set-up during the Deputy Prime Minister visit to India in August - the first major trade mission to India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected in May. Ed Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and Lord Dholakia, the Deputy Prime Minister’s India Business Adviser, also joined the delegation.