PM Modi to be conferred Russia’s highest civilian award

President Putin signs the decree to award the Prime Minister of India @narendramodi the highest civilian award of the Russian Federation -“Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle”@PMOIndia @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @KremlinRussia_E @PTI_News @mfa_russiahttps://t.co/WSogiFGcNf pic.twitter.com/gGwXnptvdZ

— India in Russia (@IndEmbMoscow) April 12, 2019

This makes it the eighth international honour for Modi during his tenure as prime minister. The Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew is the highest award in Russia. It was established at the end of the 17th Century by Czar Peter I in honour of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

Reacting to the Russian honour being conferred upon him, Modi thanked Vladimir Putin for the award. He also hailed the Russian President and called him ‘a source of great strength for the India-Russia friendship.’

President Putin remains a source of great strength for the India-Russia friendship.

Under his visionary leadership, bilateral and multilateral cooperation between our nations has scaled new heights.

— Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 12, 2019

Among the foreign political figures who have been conferred with this award include President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Chairman of the PRC Xi Jinping.

The Russian honour for the Prime Minister comes a week after the United Arab Emirates’ conferred its highest civilian decoration, the Order of Zayed Modi.