Athens (Greece): On being conferred with the highest civilian award of Greece, ‘The Grand Cross of the Order of Honour’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that it is the 140 crore Indians who deserve this honour.
Interacting with the Indian diaspora members at the community event organised at the Athens Conservatoire on Friday, PM Modi said, “You saw that the Govt of Greece honoured me with the highest civilian award of Greece. All of you deserve this honour, the 140 crore Indians deserve this honour. I dedicate this honour to the children of Maa Bharati.”
He further underlined that the bilateral relations between India and Greece go back centuries.
PM Modi said, “Greece-India relations go back centuries. These are relations of civilisation, of culture…Both of us have learnt a lot from each other, we have also taught a lot to each other.”
President of Greece Katerina N Sakellaropoulou feted PM Modi with the Grand Cross after the latter called on the former during his day-long official visit to Greece. The Order of Honour was established in 1975. The head of the goddess Athena is depicted on the front side of the Star with the inscription “ONLY THE
RIGHTEOUS SHOULD BE HONOURED”.
The Grand Cross of the Order of Honour is conferred by the President of Greece to Prime Ministers and eminent personalities who by reason of their distinguished position, have contributed to enhancing the stature of Greece.
Since 2014, Prime Minister Modi has been bestowed with numerous international awards, including The Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour by France; The ‘Order of the Nile’ from Egypt, it’s highest state honour; Papua New Guinea awarded him the Companion of the Order of Logohu, their highest civilian award; The title of Companion of the Order of Fiji; Ebakl Award by the Republic of Palau; Bhutan has honoured PM Modi with the highest civilian decoration, Order of the Druk Gyalpo; Legion of Merit by the US; King Hamad Order of the Renaissance from Bahrain, The Order of the Distinguished Rule of Nishan Izzuddin from Maldives.
While addressing the event, the Prime Minister also said that India has achieved a new milestone and became the first country to land at the Moon’s south pole.
He added, “By hoisting the Tiranga (on the moon), we have made the world aware of India’s capabilities. Congratulatory messages are pouring in from across the world. The social media is full of congratulatory messages. When the achievement is this big, its celebration also continues. Your faces say that wherever you might be in the world, India beats in your heart. I congratulate you once again on the grand success of Chandrayaan-3.”
Ahead of the event of PM Modi, the Punjabi folk dance, Bhangra was performed by the young Indian community members and was attended by hundreds of Indian diaspora members.
Later on, PM Modi along with the Indian community members sang the Indian National Anthem and the diaspora chanted slogans of “Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. PM Modi arrived in Athens for a day visit, after attending the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
At the Athens International Airport, PM Modi was received by Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis.
He received a rousing welcome upon his arrival at the hotel in Athens with members of the diaspora who had gathered outside the hotel chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai,’ and ‘Modi, Modi.’ PM Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister in the last 40 years to visit Greece.
