Indian PM Modi receives UAE’s highest civilian honour

ABU DHABI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received the Order of Zayed, the United Arab Emirates’ highest civilian honour, for building stronger bilateral ties between both countries.

Modi is on a tour of the UAE and Bahrain, where he has engaged in talks with the leaders of both nations. Commenting shortly after receiving the award, Modi said he was “humbled to be conferred the ‘Order of Zayed’ a short while ago. More than an individual, this award is for India’s cultural ethos and is dedicated to 130 crore (1.3 billion) Indians. I thank the UAE Government for this honour.”

“I had an excellent meeting with His Highness Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed,” he added. “We spoke about multiple subjects, including ways to improve trade and people-topeople relations between India and UAE. His personal commitment to strong bilateral relations is very strong.”

While in the United Arab Emirates, Narendra Modi also launched a commemorative stamp to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, in addition to officially launching the RuPay online payments system in the UAE.