Prime Minister Narendra Modi is India’s most awarded PM and one of the most decorated leaders worldwide. The Indian PM’s international recognition extends beyond personal acclaim, reflecting India’s stature, soft power, and diplomatic goodwill.
While empowering its 1.4 billion citizens, India continues to extend global support, guided by the firm civilisational belief that the world is one family. This ethos is reflected in India’s consistent role in crisis response, humanitarian aid, development partnerships, and pandemic support, including vaccine grants. It is a testament to India’s global engagement in the past decade that the state distinctions conferred upon India’s Prime Minister Modi have been growing each year.
A Growing List of Global Honours
- PM Modi has been honoured by twenty-one nations across continents, beginning with Saudi Arabia’s Order of King Abdulaziz and Afghanistan’s State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan in 2016. The latest addition to this tally is Mauritius bestowing the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean. Barring a few exceptions like Bahrain and Greece, the rest represent the highest honours of their respective nations. Many of these are also firsts for an Indian Prime Minister.
- Narendra Modi has received top civilian accolades from three permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) – the United States, France, and Russia.
- In 2021, he became the first foreign leader to receive the Order of the Druk Gyalpo, highest award from Buddhist-majority Bhutan. In 2024, he became the first foreign leader since 1969 to receive the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger from Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria.
- PM Modi has also received symbolic keys to the cities of Kathmandu (Nepal), Houston (US), Abuja (Nigeria), and Georgetown (Guyana).
- The United Nations bestowed Champions of the Earth award in 2018 for his leadership in the International Solar Alliance. Other recognitions include the Seoul Peace Prize for promoting peace and the Global Goalkeepers Award for the Swachh Bharat Mission.
- As of March 2025, PM Modi has also addressed foreign legislatures 14 times, more than any other former Indian PM. These include Bhutan, Nepal, Australia, Fiji, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan, the United States (2016 and 2023), Uganda, the Maldives, and Guyana.
Diplomatic Endorsements
- Six of the first seven international honours conferred upon Prime Minister Modi were from Muslim-majority nations, four of them with over 90% Muslim populations – Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Palestine, and the Maldives (Egypt followed in 2023).
- Nineteen of twenty-one countries recognising PM Modi have Muslim or Christian majorities, while the remaining two have Buddhist and Hindu majorities. Collectively, these nations represent nearly a billion people, with more Muslims and Christians than in India.
- Beyond formal distinctions, diplomatic warmth has also been evident through high-level courtesies. In a departure from standard protocol, several heads of state and government have personally received PM Modi at the airport as a mark of friendship and deep appreciation. One such instance occurred in May 2023, when Papua New Guinea’s PM James Marape – a devout Christian from a nation with a 95.6% Christian population and with King Charles III as head of state – touched PM Modi’s feet in a gesture rooted in the Indian tradition of showing deference to elders.
A Global Vote of Confidence
- The US – a superpower and perceived moral arbiter.
- France – the cradle of modern liberty ideals.
- Saudi Arabia – the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites.
- Palestine – whose cause resonates widely.
The acclaim and warmth from countries of varying cultures, faiths, and ideologies – from Western democracies to Middle Eastern states, P5 powers to island nations – reflect not only India’s growing global stature but also the personal respect earned by its Prime Minister. To dismiss this diverse recognition, which stands in stark contrast to claims of intolerance and minority marginalisation often directed at India, as mere geopolitical expediency, overlooks the depth of trust and goodwill that India and its Prime Minister have earned over the past decade.
Yet, this significant diplomatic capital remains underutilised in public and official discourse, despite its potential to counter misperceptions, biases, and undue criticism. India must strategically leverage Narendra Modi’s international recognition to reshape the narrative and reinforce its position as a unifying force and a driver of global good. This article is a step in that direction.
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