‘Proud moment for India’: PM Narendra Modi gets the highest honour of Ethiopia, becomes 1st foreign leader to receive it
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Proud moment for India’: PM Narendra Modi gets the highest honour of Ethiopia, becomes 1st foreign leader to receive it")
Indian PM in Ethiopia Photograph: (X)
Speaking on the occasion, the Indian PM said it was a proud moment for India. He said it was an honor for him to accept the award from one of the most ancient civilizations of the world, and he did so with a deep sense of humility and gratitude.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his first visit to Ethiopia, was honoured with “The Great Honor Nishan of Ethiopia" on Tuesday (Dec 16). Speaking on the occasion, the Indian PM said it was a proud moment for India. He said it was an honour for him to accept the award from one of the most ancient civilisations of the world, and he did so with a deep sense of humility and gratitude. "Today, on this occasion, I want to thank my friend PM Abiy Ahmed Ali. He is a great friend and a britehr," PM Modi said.
"When the whole world is focusing on global south today, we all should take insoiration from Ethiopia," the Indian PM added. PM Modi arrived in Addis Ababa from Jordan on the second leg of his three-nation tour. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali personally received him at the airport, highlighting the significance Ethiopia attached to the visit.
In a rare and symbolic gesture, Abiy Ahmed Ali also drove Prime Minister Modi to his hotel. “I have been awarded the ‘Great Honour of the Nishan of Ethiopia’, the highest honour of this country. It is a matter of great pride for me to be honoured by one of the world’s most ancient and rich civilisations," PM Modi wrote on X.
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So far, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was the first and only recipient of the honour, having been awarded in June 2025 for 25 years of transformative developmental impact through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
