Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a new benchmark for any world leader with his acceptability all across and role played by India for taking the global community to walk in tandem with the help of timeless Indian wisdom of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam to usher a new era of growth and development.
His initiatives are duly recognised by various countries with highest awards of the respective country being conferred on him. Around two dozen awards have been conferred on him so far ever since he took over as Prime Minister of India.
From the United States to Maldives, every country has recognised efforts made by the Prime Minister for his efforts concerning global peace, prosperity, justice, growth and development. The latest being Mauritius which conferred its highest civilian honour – ‘the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean’ – on Prime Minister Modi making him the first Indian recipient of the prestigious accolade by Mauritius which was given away to him by President Dharam Gokhool on March 11, 2025.
When Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister of India in May 2014, Indian foreign policy was mostly Pakistan-centric with its western neighbour threatening India every now and then to rally Islamic countries against it on any and every issue. So, there was a policy shift towards the Middle-East by de-bracketing Pakistan as far as India’s relation with Middle-East countries is concerned from the region India gets maximum remittance and the need of its energy security is taken care of by them.
He re-defined his government’s policy for Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Australia too with new policy initiatives. He gave a completely new policy initiative of Global South during India’s G-20 presidency in September 2023 in New Delhi to make them beneficiaries of progress and prosperity across the world to initiatives like India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) for mutual growth and development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up the cudgel for this herculean task and the global community recognised his intent and initiative by honouring him with highest awards of the respective country. The first major recognition to Prime Minister Modi came about in April 2016 when he was given away the highest civilian award of Saudi Arabia ‘the King Abdulaziz Sash’ and ‘Amir Amanullah Khan Award’ by Afghanistan in the same year. The citation on the reverse of the medal reads: “Nishan-e Dawlati Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan”, or “State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan.”
Opposition leaders in India did not miss any opportunity to question the government in general and the PM is particular whether the situation warrants it or not. India’s policy towards Palestine is one such issue where they unsuccessfully tried to corner the government. The Indian government reiterated not once but as many times as they were asked to respond that India is not deviating from its stated stand on two-nation policy on the Israel-Palestine issue. Interestingly, the PM was awarded with ‘the Grand Collar of the State of Palestine’ by President Mahmoud Abbas, recognising his key contribution to promote relations between India and Palestine in February 2018 and ‘Rule of Nishan Izzuddeen’ in June 2019 by south Asian nation Maldives.
Some other Middle-East countries recognise the efforts and contribution of Prime Minister Modi by giving away the highest awards of their respective countries that included ‘Order of Zayed’ by the United Arab Emirates in August 2019 and ‘The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance’ by Bahrain in the same month of 2019. All these highest civilian awards were given to Prime Minister Modi by Islamic countries as much a brouhaha is always made by opposition parties in India in the name of minority rights. They always unsuccessfully try to sully the image of the PM for domestic politics.
The then US President Donald Trump (first term) conferred the highest decoration, ‘The Legion of Merit, Degree Chief Commander,’ on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 21, 2020. The award was in recognition of the Prime Minister’s steadfast leadership and vision for India’s emergence as a global power, and exemplary contribution made by him for the advancement of the India-United States strategic partnership and promoting global peace and prosperity.
The PM was given away ‘The Companion of the Order of Fiji’ by the Fiji government and the ‘Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu’ (GCL) by Papua New Guinea in May 2023. This is the highest civilian award of PNG and recipients of the award are titled “Chief”. The African country with predominantly Muslim citizens that is one of the oldest civilisations in the world — Egypt – conferred ‘Order of the Nile’ on Prime Minister Modi in June 2023. France that is known for its centuries-long status as a global centre of art, science, and philosophy conferred ‘The Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour’ on the Indian PM in July 2023, the first Indian premier to receive this honour, while another European country Greece known for civilisational importance gave away its highest civilian award ‘The Grand Cross of the Order of Honour’ in August 2023. The citation says, “In the person of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an honour is bestowed upon the friendly people of India.” Russia, the all-weather friend of India, conferred ‘The Order of St Andrew the Apostle’, in July2024.
African country Nigeria awarded the PM with ‘Grand Commander of the Order of Niger’ for his statesmanship and stellar contribution to fostering India-Nigeria ties, ‘Dominica Award of Honour’ by Dominica, Order of Freedom of Barbados by Barbados and ‘Order of Excellence of Guyana’ by Guyana in November 2024. President Irfaan Ali who is said to have his lineage in India touched the feet of Prime Minister Narendra while receiving him as state guest. This tells how much respect the PM commands globally.
Another Islamic nation Kuwait conferred Prime Minister Narendra Modi with ‘The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’ in December 2024 when he was on a two-day visit to the country. This was the visit for any Indian Prime Minister in 43 years as the last Indian Prime Minister to visit Kuwait was Indira Gandhi in 1981. He visited Kuwait at the invitation of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Bhutan, the country that is culturally very close to India, has conferred Prime Minister Narendra with ‘Order of the Druk Gyalpo’ in March 2024. Prime Minister Modi is the first foreign leader to be given this prestigious award.
Besides these awards conferred by states, there were many other awards conferred on Prime Minister Modi by organisations like United Nations, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Global Peace Award for Minority Upliftment by Association of Indian American Minorities / Washington Adventist University. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the new hope for global fraternity with his policy in the changing global order where India is a new emerging global power and the PM is the driving force.
