India was aloof in our hard days: Suu Kyi

"Our good wishes are with you as indeed with your struggle for democracy. We admire you for the indomitable courage you have shown," Singh told Suu Kyi during the discussions.

The two talked about a variety of issues, including the "national reconciliation process" and the "process of democratisation" underway in Myanmar. Singh also welcomed the progress made by Suu Kyi and Myanmar's President Thein Sein.

They agreed that "people-to-people relations were important" and discussed "greater cooperation" between the parliaments and judiciaries of the two countries.

Dressed in a yellow dress with a maroon shawl, with her trademark yellow flowers tucked in her hair, Suu Kyi also recalled her memories of Jawaharlal Nehru during her 30-minute lecture. "To my infant mind, he was the kindly old man who had provided my father with two sets of uniform, the smartest he ever possessed," said the 67-year-old Nobel Laureate, about one such instance.

In January 1947, Suu Kyi's father, General Aung San, widely considered to be the independence hero of Burma (as Myanmar was known then), had stopped over in Delhi for two days on his way to London for the Aung San-Attlee talks.

"He had left Burma in the thin cotton uniform of the People's Volunteer Organisation. Panditjit took one look at the flimsy khaki outfit and decided it would not do for the icy weather of London. He gave instructions that two sets of a warm and smart version of the PVO uniform be made immediately," Suu Kyi, who was two at the time, recalled.

The month in which her father was travelling to London was one of the coldest winters in the history of England, she said. "He (Nehru) decided that my father would also need a heavy overcoat, but since there was not enough time to have one made to measure, a British Army issue greatcoat was procured. The most widely known photograph of my father shows him wearing this garment in the garden of 10 Downing Street (the British Premier's office)," she said.

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