On the Twelfth of April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the Order of St. Andrew, the highest award a civilian can receive in Russia.
The award was given to PM Modi for the exceptional services he provided in special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India.
Established in the year 1698 by Tsar Peter The Great, the Order of St. Andrew is the first and highest award of chivalry given to civilians by the Russian Empire. Called the The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, the FirstCalled, Russia confers this award on those who have done outstanding work for the Russian State.
“On April 12, 2019, Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi was decorated with the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle – the highest state decoration of Russia – for exceptional services in promoting special and privileged strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian peoples,” announced a statement given by the Russian Government.
The award was presented to PM Narendra Modi by President Vladimir Putin.
Incidentally, this the second order of this kind received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the last few months and the eighth of its kind during his tenure as the PM of India.
The first award Mr. Modi received was the Zayed Medal, the highest civilian award given by the United Arabs Emirates. While the award hasn’t been presented to PM Modi yet, a formal acknowledgement of the award was given by both the UAE and India.
The other awards received by Modi in his tenure include the Amir Abdulla Khan Award of Afghanistan (2016,) the Seoul Peace Prize (2018,) the UN Champions of the Earth Award (2018,) the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine (2018) and the King Abdulaziz Sash Award of Saudi Arabia (2018.)
With a new feather already making his cap full, this new award comes bang in the middle of the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.
Stay tuned to read about how this affects the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chances during the elections!