Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday was honoured with Russia's highest civilian award -- Order of St Andrew the Apostle -- by President Vladimir Putin at the grand Hall of the Order of Saint Andrew. The award was bestowed upon him in 2019. PM Modi was awarded Russia's most prestigious honour for his contribution to developing a privileged strategic partnership between Delhi and Moscow and fostering friendly ties between the two countries.
In 2019, the Russian Embassy in India announced, "On April 12, @narendramodi was decorated with the Order of St Andrew the Apostle for exceptional services in promoting special & privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian peoples."
"Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the Order of St Andrew for outstanding achievements in promoting partnership with Russia," Russian President Vladimir Putin had said it in 2019.
What is Order of St Andrew the Apostle?
The Order of St Andrew the Apostle is Russia's highest civilian honour which was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great in honor of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia. It is bestowed for the most outstanding civilian or military merit.
It was bestowed in a single class and was only awarded for the most outstanding civilian or military merit. The ceremony to honour PM Modi with this award took place in the grand Hall of the Order of Saint Andrew.
The place has been used for ceremonial events in Russia for centuries. During the Tsarist era, it housed the throne of the incumbent monarch. More recently, it has been used to hold inaugurations of the Russian President. Awarding the leader of another country within these historic walls is truly a great honour.
In response, PM Modi highlighted the deep foundation of the friendship between the two countries and said that the future of the partnership is bright.
List of notable recipients who received Order of St Andrew the Apostle
- Heydar Aliyev | He was an Azerbaijani politician who was a Soviet party boss in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1969 to 1982, and the third president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003.
- Rasul Gamzatov | He was a popular Russian poet who wrote in Avar. Among his poems was Zhuravli, which became a well-known Soviet song.
- Mikhail Gorbachev | He was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991.
- Daniil Granin | was a Soviet and Russian author. One of his most popular books is The Bison (1987), which tells the story of the Soviet geneticist Nikolay Timofeev-Ressovsky. In October 1993, he signed the Letter of Forty-Two.
- Mikhail Kalashnikov | He was a Soviet and Russian lieutenant general, inventor, military engineer, writer, and small arms designer. He is most famous for developing the AK-47 assault rifle and its improvements, the AKM and AK-74, as well as the RPK light machine gun and PK machine gun.
- Patriarch Kirill of Moscow | is a Russian Orthodox bishop. He became Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on 1 February 2009.
- Sergey Mikhalkov | He was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables. He wrote the lyrics for the Soviet and Russian national anthems.
- Nursultan Nazarbayev | He is a Kazakh politician who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022.
- Valery Shumakov | He was a Russian surgeon and transplantologist, famous for being the founding father of organ transplants in Russia and was a pioneer of artificial organ surgery.
- Xi Jinping | He is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus the President of China, since 2012.
- Lyudmila Zykina | She was a national folk singer of Russia. She was born in Moscow and joined the Pyatnitsky Choir in 1947.
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