‘Give him any award, and he’ll come running’: Narendra Modi racks up honours on overseas trips

As Narendra Modi touched down in Seychelles over the weekend, the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean swiftly bestowed one of its “highest” honours upon the Indian prime minister.

Modi beamed as he accepted the Guardian of the Blue Horizon award from Patrick Herminie, the Seychelles president, complete with a trophy and certificate.

Observers soon pointed out that several things appeared to be off about the award. The certificate misspelled “republic” as “repubblic”, and even “Seychelles” as “Seycheeles”. The award, it transpired, had only been created three days before Modi’s arrival and he was the first and only recipient.

To add to the furore, when run through software, the certificate was widely flagged as AI-generated.

The opposition Congress party were quick to jump on the controversy, claiming: “Give him [Modi] any award, and he’ll come running.”

“They were in such a tearing hurry that they even got the official name of the Republic of Seychelles wrong,” the Congress politician Supriya Shrinate said on social media.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) hit back, saying it was a “proud moment for India” for him to receive the award for his “green leadership”.

On Thursday, the Seychelles foreign ministry responded with a statement claiming that a “working draft” had accidentally been circulated and that an “authentic and duly approved” version had now been issued.

“The Guardian of the Blue Horizon distinction is genuine,” added the foreign ministry.

As critics have pointed out, Modi has shown a notable penchant for receiving awards, at home and abroad, over his 12 years in power.

Last month, days before Modi’s visit to Israel, the Israeli parliament quickly created what it claimed to be one of the country’s highest honours, the medal of the Knesset, which was bestowed on Modi when he landed. Again, he is the only recipient to date.

In 2019, Modi also became the first recipient of India’s Philip Kotler presidential award, given to the prime minister for his “outstanding leadership of the nation”. According to the government’s press release, the honour was to be bestowed annually to the leader of a nation. However, no other leader has since been given the award and its website lies dormant.

It is privately acknowledged that accolades and awards have become an expectation during Modi’s foreign trips. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, the author of a biography of Modi, said the global push for prizes was symptomatic of the prime minister’s personality-driven politics.

“The intention behind collecting these awards – often bestowed in circumstances that raise eyebrows – is to convey to supporters and potential converts that Modi is being honoured across the world over because of his greatness and that India’s rising clout is because of Modi’s personality,” he said.

In the past year Modi has also become the first foreign head of state to receive Ethiopia’s Great Honour Nishan and the order of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.

The BJP says the awards are a recognition of Modi’s international stature.