Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honoured with the ‘Order of Zayed’, the UAE’s highest civilian award, on Saturday 24th August as a mark of appreciation for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.
KRC TIMES Desk
The award is in the name of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE. The award has earlier been honoured to several world leaders such as, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Queen Elizabeth II and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During the visit, the Prime Minister had a discussion over the full spectrum of the strong India-UAE partnership with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner and is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil for India with an annual bilateral trade of about 60 billion USD.
During the visit the Indian Prime Minister launched Rupay Card in the UAE to promote cashless transactions abroad. With this, UAE has become the first country in the Middle East to have this facility. Modi himself also purchased Indian sweets using the RuPay card.
A tweet by the PMO said the sweets were to be offered at the Shreenathji Temple in Bahrain as Prasada
After receiving the award, Modi tweeted saying, more than an individual, the award is for India’s cultural ethos and is dedicated to 130 crore Indians. He thanked the UAE Government for the honour.
To mark the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a commemorative stamp was jointly released by the Indian Prime Minister and the Crown Prince at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi.
Apart from enhancing both the country’s partnership, this award acquires a special significance as it was awarded to Prime Minister Modi in the year of the birth centenary of Sheikh Zayed.
