Representatives of a large number of faith groups - including Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, Jewish, Sikhs and Protestants - turned up for the launch at Brent Town Hall in the northwest suburbs of London Tuesday night, Gardiner told IANS. "We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the families of the victims. Many of the people who live here in Britain will ether know or have family members caught up in this," he added.

Gardiner said there was "a commonality" between India and Britain in their "refusal to be bowed" by the threat of terrorism. "I've always been very conscious that we in Britain need to recognise and understand that the terrorist threat we face is something India has already suffered more than any other democracy," said Gardiner who set up the Labour Friends of India - a body of MPs - in 1999.

Gardiner was a junior minister under former premier Tony Blair and is Prime Minister Gordon Brown's special representative on forestry.