Prime Minister Narendra Modi awarded the Swedish Royal Order of the North Star, Commander’s Grand Cross | Today’s news
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Sunday awarded Sweden’s Royal Order of the North Star, the highest honor given to a prime minister by the Scandinavian nation.
PM Modi was awarded the highest honor that can be bestowed on a prime minister by Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, in the presence of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at a ceremony at the county governor’s residence.
What is the Royal Order of the North Star?
According to a statement from the Swedish government, the King decided to confer the Royal Order of the North Star, Commander of the Grand Cross on the Indian Prime Minister prior to his visit to Gothenburg.
The Royal Order of the Polar Star was established in 1748 and is intended to recognize personal efforts for Sweden or for Swedish interests, especially in public activities, as well as the successful performance of public tasks and duties.
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The rank insignia is a decoration worn on a collar or black ribbon (with the black representing the darkness of ignorance that the (Polar) Star is trying to break through).
This is Prime Minister Modi’s 31st international honour.
Modi arrived in Sweden on Sunday for a two-day visit. He was received by his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson at Gothenburg airport.
Modi receives a special gift from Sweden
During the visit, the Indian Prime Minister was also given a special gift symbolizing the historical ties between the two countries.
The symbolic gift – a cobalt blue box decorated with gold lettering and a monogram, contained faithful reproductions of two handwritten cards by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
According to the Swedish government, the box also contained a short text about Tagore’s two visits to Sweden in 1921 and 1926, as well as a photograph from his visit to Uppsala University in 1921.
The facsimiles consist of two verses, one written in Bengali and English and the other in English.
“God’s smile appears in the light of love that reveals a brother’s face”
“History is slowly suffocating the truth, but hastily trying to revive it in terrible penance.”
The verses were discovered in the Swedish National Archives, a personal archive belonging to Sven Hedin, an author and explorer who hosted Tagore in Stockholm in 1921.
Modi’s visit to Sweden
During his visit, PM Modi also held wide-ranging talks with his Swedish counterpart Kristersson, focusing on trade, technology, defense and other key sectors.
During the delegation-level talks, the two sides reviewed the full range of bilateral relations and explored new avenues of cooperation to boost bilateral trade, which will reach $7.75 billion in 2025.
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In their talks, the two sides focused on strengthening bilateral ties in the areas of green transition, artificial intelligence (AI), new technologies, startups, resilient supply chains, defense, space, climate action and people-to-people relations.
