‘Double cross, first class’: Why India’s Modi wins so many foreign awards
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- Modi received the "Guardian of the Blue Horizon" from Seychelles President Patrick Herminie in Victoria during his June 27-29 visit, an award Seychelles calls its highest civilian honour but that the article reports was created specifically for his arrival.
- Images of the accompanying certificate showed embarrassing typos including "Repubblic" and "Seycheeles" for the country's name, prompting Congress Party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate to mock the "tearing hurry" to present the award; the Seychelles Foreign Ministry said the version circulated was a "working draft."
- Modi has collected more than 30 accolades on foreign visits over 12 years, per the article, including Indonesia's Bintang Adipurna awarded Tuesday, Slovakia's "Order of the White Double Cross, 1st Class" in June, and the Knesset Speaker's Medal — awarded only to Modi in February.
- Past Modi honours include the 2018 UN Champions of the Earth (alongside French President Emmanuel Macron), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's 2019 Global Goalkeeper Award, and the 2019 Philip Kotler Presidential Award, which the source notes has not been given to any other world leader since.
- Westminster University professor Nitasha Kaul said the awards are "a prop for the egotistical strongman politics that Modi embodies" used to "construct the myth of an internationally respected statesman," while Griffith University's Ian Hall said he sees "no" diplomatic or economic benefit to India from them.
Why it matters: Modi's tally of 30-plus foreign awards includes several minted specifically for him — Seychelles' Guardian of the Blue Horizon, the Knesset Speaker's Medal — suggesting host countries are inventing honours to flatter India's leader rather than measuring established diplomatic standing, per the source. The Seychelles certificate errors ("Repubblic of Seycheeles") underline the rushed nature of the gestures, which both quoted experts say deliver no measurable economic or strategic return for New Delhi while reinforcing Modi's personal brand.
