PM Modi conferred with Trinidad and Tobago's highest civilian honour

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Friday conferred with The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago becoming the first foreign leader to receive the Caribbean countrys highest civilian honourThis is the 25th international honour bestowed upon PM Modi by a countryIn a special ceremony at the Presidents House President Christine Carla Kangaloo conferred upon Prime Minister Modi the highest national award of Trinidad and Tobago for his statesmanship for championing the priorities of the Global South and for his exceptional contribution to strengthening the relationship between the two countriesPM Modi who is on a twoday visit to the Caribbean nation expressed his gratitude to the government and the people for being honoured with the highest national awardPrime Minister Modi also held bilateral talks with President Kangaloo and discussed issues of mutual interestsI would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you your government and the people for honouring me with the highest national award the Order of the Republic of Trinidad amp Tobago PM Modi said after receiving the awardThis honour is a symbol of the eternal and deep friendship between our two countries I accept this honour on behalf of 140 crore Indians as a shared pride he said as he dedicated the honour to the enduring bonds of friendship between the two countriesPM Modi said the conferment of this honour on a foreign leader for the first time reflects the deep bilateral ties which are based on our shared history and cultural heritageI also see this honour as a responsibility towards our relations As a close and trusted partner we have continued to emphasise skill development and capacity building for the people of Trinidad and Tobago the prime minister saidIt is a matter of great pride that the Indian community has preserved our shared traditions culture and customs to this day President Kangaloo Ji and Prime Minister Kamla Ji are the biggest brand ambassadors of this community he saidPM Modi underlined that these special ties were based on shared history and cultural heritage forged by Indians who arrived in the country 180 years ago He affirmed his commitment to further deepening the bilateral partnership between India and Trinidad amp Tobago the Ministry of External Affairs MEA said in a statementCultural ties between the two countries are visible at every step President Kangaloos ancestors were from the land of Saint Thiruvalluvar in Tamil Nadu he saidSaint Thiruvalluvar once said that strong nations must possess six qualities a valiant army patriotic citizens abundant resources good public representatives strong defence and loyal allies who always stand by them he addedAfter conferring the award President Kangaloo said Trinidad and Tobago is immensely glad to have been able to bestow upon you our nations highest honour in recognition of the tremendous work that you have done with our nation over the years and for the kindness and the generosity which you have always shown to our country and indeed our regionYour kindness and generosity to the people of Trinidad and Tobago are legendary she addedKangaloo said that during the crisis of Covid19 pandemic 40000 vaccine doses arrived in Trinidad and Tobago as a result of your personal intervention and actionThat act of kindness only further strengthened the longstanding relationship between the governments and people of both of our countries she addedThe event was attended by Prime Minister Kamla PersadBissessar members of her Cabinet Members of Parliament and other dignitariesPM Modi said Trinidad and Tobago is not only a CARICOM partner for India but also an important partner globally Our cooperation is significant for the entire Global South he addedCARICOM the Caribbean Community is a regional political and economic union of 15 states and five associated membersThe award was announced on Thursday by Trinidad and Tobago prime minister who described Modis visit as a moment of shared pride and historical connectionThis is PM Modis first visit to the country as prime minister and the first Indian bilateral visit at the prime ministerial level to Trinidad and Tobago since 1999Modi arrived here from Ghana where he was conferred with The Officer of the Order of the Star of Ghana the countrys national honourThe award was conferred on the prime minister in recognition of his distinguished statesmanship and influential global leadership the MEA saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever