Bhubaneswar: Modi diplomacy can best be explained in the words of none other than the Indian foreign Minister S Jaishankar. In 2015, then foriegn secretary S Jaishankar has encapsulated the Modi-diplomacy in a simple phrase – “Today’s India “aspire[s] to be a leading power, rather than just a balancing power.” He then added, “India is willing to shoulder greater global responsibilities.”
The success of this Modi-diplomacy is evident from the list of honours PM Modi has been conferred with. Till date the PM has been honoured with as many 17 international honours – the highest on any PM in India.
First, here is the list of International Honours bestowed on Prime Ministers of India since Independence.
- Jawaharlal Nehru: India’s first PM Jawaharlal Nehru lived in the era of cold war and he was bestowed with two international awards
- Lenin Peace Prize 1955
- Order of Yogoslav Star 1954
- Smt Indira Gandhi received the Isibella d’Este Award of Italy
- Since she too was the PM in the cold war era, Mrs Gandhi was awarded the following honours
- Lenin Peace Prize in 1985
- Bangladesh Freedom Honour in 2011
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Order of Ouissam Alaouite in 1999 (second highest civilian honour of Morroco
- And Bangladesh Liberation War honour in 2015 .
- Manmohan Singh: Order of King of Abdulaziz, Special class, 2nd highest civilian honour of Saudi Arabia.
- Order of the Paulownia Flowers – Japan’s 2nd highest civilian honour
LIST OF INTERNATIONAL HONOURS ON PM MODI
- St Andrew the Apostle: Conferred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Russian President Vladimir Putin for his contribution to fostering bilateral ties between the two countries.
- PM Modi first Indian leader to be conferred with this award, which was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia.
- The foreign awardees of the award include President of China Xi Jinping, former President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and former President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliev.
- March 2024: PM Modi received Bhutan’s highest civilian award, the ‘Order of the Druk Gyalpo’. He became the first foreign Head of the government to receive the honour
- August 2023: PM Modi was conferred with the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by Greek President Katerina. The Order of Honour was established in 1975. Head of goddess Athena is depicted on the front side of the Star.
- July 2023: Modi was conferred with the highest honour of France, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, by French President Emmanuel Macron.
- June 2023: PM Modi was conferred with the Order of the Nile', Egypt's highest honour, by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
- May 2023: For the cause of championing unity of Pacific Island countries and spearheading the cause of global south, Governor-General of Papua New Guinea conferred the ‘Companion of the Order of Logohu’ to PM Modi. Recipients of the award are titled “Chief”.
- Companion of the Order of Fiji: Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka conferred country’s highest award to PM Modi in May 2023.
- December 2020: US government bestowed the ‘Legion of Merit’ on PM Modi. The award is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct, outstanding services and achievements.
- August 2019: Abu Dhabi crown prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan honoured Modi with the ‘Order of Zayed’, the UAE’s highest civilian award.
- August 2019: PM Modi was conferred with the prestigious ‘The King Hamad Order of the Renaissance’, highest honour of Bahrain
- June 2019: PM Modi was bestowed with Maldives’ highest honour ‘Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin’.
- February 2019:Prestigious Seoul Peace Prize was conferred on PM Modi for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.
- January 2019: PM Modi received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award for his “outstanding leadership for the nation”. The Award focuses on the triple bottom-line of People, Profit and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation.
- October 2018: UN Secy Gen Antonio Guterres bestowed on PM Modi the Champions of the Earth award. The Award was in recognition towards the efforts to ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ –
- February 2018: the ‘Grand Collar of the State of Palestine’ was conferred on PM Modi by President Mahmoud Abbas, in recognition of his key contribution to promote relations between India and Palestine.
- June 2016: Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour Amir Amanullah Khan Award was conferred on PM Modi by President Ashraf Ghani after the inauguration of the landmark Afghan-India Friendship Dam in Herat.
- April 2016: Saudi Arabia conferred its highest civilian honour - The Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud – on PM Modi.
BOTTOMLINE: A glance at the list of international recognitions bestowed on PM Modi shows the foreign policy dynamics of the contemporary era, and success of Modi-diplomacy, where both Russia and US awarding their top honours, and so too the Arab world and Palestine.The global south countries have also bestowed their civilian honours on PM Modi reflecting the leadership role of India. .
In the words of the then Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who speaking at the 2019 Raisina Dialogue in Delhi declared, “India has moved on from its non-aligned past. India is today an aligned state—but based on issues.”
He then clearly enunciated, “it was time for India to become part of the global rule-making process, and in the rules-based order, India would have a stronger position in multilateral institutions.”
The above clear enunciation of India’s foreign policy under the Modi government is what been described as Modi-diplomacy.
