India’s Modi awarded top honour by France’s Macron for ‘unwavering friendship’
- President Emmanuel Macron awarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi the grand cross of the Legion d’Honneur, the highest grade of France’s order of merit
- It is ‘an honour for the 1.4 billion residents of India’, Modi said, and showed the profound affection for India and the continuation of friendship
France’s president has awarded the country’s top honour to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the presidency said on Friday ahead of Bastille Day celebrations where he is the featured guest.
Emmanuel Macron awarded Modi the grand cross of the Legion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour), the highest grade of France’s order of merit that “salutes the role of the prime minister in the excellent relations of friendship and confidence that unite France and India”, the presidency said in a statement.
“It is with great humility that I accept the Legion of Honour grand cross,” Modi said in a tweet in French, alongside photos of him and Macron during the award ceremony, held at the Elysee presidential palace on Thursday evening.
“It is an honour for the 1.4 billion residents of India”, he said, thanking Macron and the French for the honour, saying it “showed their profound affection for India and the continuation of friendship with our nation”.
“This closeness is not limited to just the leaders of two countries, it is in fact a reflection of the unwavering friendship between India and France,” Modi said.
The honouring of Modi this year reflects deepening ties between France and India, which are marking 25 years of “strategic partnership”.