New Delhi, Nov. 1: On October 31 last year, India's diplomats posted in Beijing were recovering from a trade meet with their Chinese counterparts. This year, they were busy commemorating a man whose legacy had so far not touched India's foreign policy establishment - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Indian embassy in China was among over 100 Indian missions across the world that yesterday held quizzes, lectures, movie screenings and exhibitions on Patel to mark his 141st birth anniversary, senior diplomats said.

The unprecedented focus on Patel by India's foreign missions on his birth anniversary followed a nudge from the ministry of external affairs, the officials said, at a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made clear his intentions to wrestle with the Congress for the leader's legacy.

Patel's critical role as one of the founding fathers of the Indian republic is widely recognised both in India and by global historians who have studied India's Independence. Patel, a Congress leader, used a combination of diplomacy and threats to persuade over 500 princely states to accede to India after the British left, and served as independent India's first home minister and deputy Prime Minister.

But unlike first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru - whose foreign policy formulations remain the bedrock Indian diplomacy stands on - Patel is not known to have contributed significantly to India's international relations. The imprint of his legacy on India's foreign ministry and missions abroad has till now been negligible.

The change came on a day Modi took a swipe at the Congress, asserting that no one - not even Patel's own family - had the "copyright" over the leader's legacy.

"Patel was such a man that his family did not own a copyright over him," Modi had said yesterday while inaugurating a digital exhibition on the former leader.

"Patel's life is a great example for future generations. (Thinking about) Family is fine, but think about the country too sometimes."

At the Indian high commission in Dhaka, visitors were yesterday invited to see a photo exhibition on Patel. Then, in the evening, the mission screened a documentary film titled Man of Silence - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The Indian high commission in Sri Lanka held an online quiz on Patel. Visitors to the mission's Facebook page were asked a series of questions on Patel and his contributions. The first to correctly answer these questions received prizes that they could either collect from the mission - or have mailed home.

At the Indian high commission in London, visiting food and consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan led a ceremony to mark Patel's birth anniversary. Paswan garlanded a bust of the former leader, and took a "unity pledge" along with other mission members.

The Indian embassy in Italy organised a memorial ceremony for Patel at its auditorium, and invited all persons of Indian origin in Rome to attend.

And the Indian embassy in China - busy handling daily challenges in a troubled relationship - took a break to host a photo exhibition on Patel and screen a feature film titled Sardar, starring actor and BJP MP Paresh Rawal as the leader.