PM Modi conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour

Riyadh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash, on Sunday during his official two-day visit to the Gulf kingdom. "In a special gesture, PM @narendramodi was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

In a special gesture, PM @narendramodi was conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour, the King Abdulaziz Sash pic.twitter.com/rUhhgTAowP

— Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) April 3, 2016

The honour is named after Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the modern Saudi state. The order is awarded to citizens of Saudi Arabia and foreigners for meritorious service to the Kingdom. US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Indonesian President Joko Widodo are among the other notable recipients of this honour. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New Delhi on Monday morning after his successfully three-nation tour of Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Modi was received by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Satish Upadhyay and Vijender Gupta, on his arrival at the Palam Technical Airport here. Prior to his departure from Riyadh, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, "Thank you Saudi Arabia. Joined several programmes during my visit, which will deepen economic & people-to-people ties between our nations."

Thank you Saudi Arabia. Joined several programmes during my visit, which will deepen economic & people-to-people ties between our nations. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 3, 2016

In Riyadh, the Prime Minister held delegation-level talks with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in a move to cement new momentum in bilateral ties between both sides and expand cooperation in diverse areas including trade, investment and counter-terrorism. Prime Minister Modi expressed his sincere gratitude to the King for the warm welcome and gracious hospitality.