Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives the Seoul Peace Prize, at the award ceremony in Seoul, on Friday. (PIB/PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives the Seoul Peace Prize, at the award ceremony in Seoul, on Friday. (PIB/PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi was Friday awarded the Seoul Peace Prize 2018 for his “contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth”. Modi, who is the fourteenth recipient of the award, received an honorarium cash prize of $200,000 that he gave away to the Namami Gange Programme (National Mission for Clean Ganga). A short film on the life and achievements of Prime Minister Modi was also screened at the event. The Seoul Peace Prize is dedicated to the people of India & our country’s culture of peace and harmony. https://t.co/ymUdug3JYp — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 22, 2019 While expressing his gratitude for the prestigious award at the ceremony, Modi said, “The success that India has achieved in the last five years is due to aspirations, inspiration and efforts of the people of India. On their behalf, I accept the award and express my gratitude.” The prime minister also said that he was honoured that the award is being conferred on him in the year that India celebrates the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. What is Seoul Peace Prize? Established in 1990, the Seoul Peace Prize was an effort to crystallise the Korean people’s yearning for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of the world. It was initially established to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul, Republic of Korea – an event in which 160 nations from across the world took part, creating harmony and friendship and a worldwide atmosphere of peace and reconciliation. Previous winners of the award include former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and international relief organisations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. The prize has been awarded to those who have made their mark through contributions to the harmony of mankind, reconciliation between nations and to world peace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the crowd after receiving the Seoul Peace Prize at the award ceremony in Seoul on Friday. (PIB/PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the crowd after receiving the Seoul Peace Prize at the award ceremony in Seoul on Friday. (PIB/PTI) How is the Seoul Peace Prize winner selected? The committee includes over 1,300 nominators, including internationally renowned Korean and foreign figures in political, economic, social, cultural, athletic, academic and other fields. The prize is given biennially and the nomination begins in November. The nominators should send back the forms after filling in the name of their candidates and their achievements three months before the advised date for the award giving ceremony. The final winner is selected through a vote by members of the committee. What do the Seoul Peace Prize winners get? The awardee receives a diploma, a plaque and honorarium of US$200,000.The two-page, traditionally patted certificate has the emblem of the Seoul Peace Prize printed on the left side. The text of the certificate appears on the right side, in both Korean and English. The gold-plated, crystal plaque is fashioned after the traditional Taegeuk(two comma-shaped symbols united in a perfect circle) design. Prime Minister Narendra Modi with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L), inspects the guard of honour during a ceremonial reception, in Seoul. (PIB/PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (L), inspects the guard of honour during a ceremonial reception, in Seoul. (PIB/PTI) Why was PM Modi selected for Seoul Peace Prize? Last year while conferring the prize, the Award Committee said it had found Modi to be the ‘perfect candidate’ after assessing over a hundred candidates proposed by over 1,300 nominators from around the world. A statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs read, “The Seoul Peace Prize Committee has decided to confer the 2018 Seoul Peace Prize on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in recognition of his dedication to improving international cooperation, raising global economic growth, accelerating the Human Development of the people of India by fostering economic growth in the world’s fastest-growing large economy and furthering the development of democracy through anti-corruption and social integration efforts.” The award also credited Modi’s contribution towards regional and global peace through a proactive foreign policy with countries around the world under the ‘Modi Doctrine’ and the ‘Act East Policy.’<doc-sep>Award dedicated to people of India. PM @narendramodi was conferred #SeoulPeacePrize in an award ceremony organise… https://t.co/Kpkqn6pDCl — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) 1550816692000 Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred Seoul peace prize SEOUL: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday received the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize for 2018 for his contribution to international cooperation and fostering global economic growth.The award was presented to him by the Seoul Peace Prize Foundation at a grand ceremony. A short film on the life and achievements of Prime Minister Modi was also screened at the event.While conferring the award on Modi, the award committee recognised his contribution to the growth of Indian and global economies, crediting ' Modinomics ' for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor.The committee also credited him for his contribution toward regional and global peace through a proactive policy with countries around the world.Modi is the 14th recepient of the award and the past laureates included former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and renowned international relief organizations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam.The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul. The award was established to crystalise Korean people's yearning for peace on the Korean peninsula and in the rest of the world.<doc-sep>Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conferred the 14th Seoul Peace Prize at a function in Seoul. Modi dedicated the prize to India's 130 million citizens and the country's rich culture of peace and harmony. (Image: PTI)<doc-sep>Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday touched upon cross-border terrorism and said that the time had come for all those who believe in humanity to join hands in the fight against terrorism. PM Modi said that India’s endeavours towards peaceful development had been derailed too often by cross-border terrorism. “While India has been the victim of cross-border terrorism for 40 years, all nations today face this grave threat which respects no borders. The time has come for all those who believe in humanity to join hands to completely eradicate terrorist networks and their financing supply channels and counter terrorist ideology and propaganda,” PM Modi said. Calling for an end to terrorism, he said, “Only by doing so can we replace hate with harmony, destruction with development and transform the landscape of violence and vendetta into a postcard for peace.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking at Seoul where he received the Seoul Peace Prize. After receiving the award, the prime minister said that he would donate the $2,00,000 (Rs 1.30 crore) award money to the Namami Gange project, which he said was an effort to clean the Ganga which is not just a river, but is held sacred by all the people of India, and is also an economic lifeline to millions of people in India. Recalling the history of the Seoul Peace Prize, the PM said that the award was established to mark the success and spirit of the 24th Summer Olympics held in 1988 in Seoul. “India remembers the games very well because they ended on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, October 2,” he said. He said that the Seoul Olympics were an important landmark and when the games ended, the world was going through numerous changes. “The 1988 Olympics were held at a time of many changes in the world. The Iran-Iraq war had just ended. The Geneva Accord relating to the situation in Afghanistan had been signed earlier that year. The Cold War was ending and there was great hope that a new golden age will soon dawn,” he said. Comparing the situation today with that of 1988, the PM said that the world is better in many aspects today. “Global poverty has been steadily falling. Education and healthcare outcomes have been improving, and yet many daunting global challenges remain. Some are old, some are new,” he said. Touching upon the topic of climate change, he said, “The first public warnings climate change were sounded and today it has become a big threat to human kind.” Referring to the terror organisation Al Qaeda, he said that the radical organisation was formed a few weeks before the Seoul Olympics and went on to say that radicalisation and terrorism have become globalised and are the biggest threats to global peace and security. He went on to list various flagship initiatives of the BJP government at the Centre such as Make in India, Skill India, Clean India, Digital India etc and said that the guiding spirit behind all these initiatives was a teaching of Mahatma Gandhi, which said, “Remember the face of the poorest and the weakest person that we have ever seen and ask ourselves if the step that we plan is going to be of any benefit to that person.”<doc-sep>
PM Narendra Modi receives the Seoul Peace Prize in South Korea Prime Minister Narendra Modi today received the Seoul Peace Prize from the South Korean government in recognition of his service to international cooperation, global growth and human development. "I am honoured to be awarded the Seoul Peace Prize. I believe that this award belongs not to me personally, but to the people of India. The award belongs to the success India has seen in less than five years, powered by 1.5 billion people," PM Modi said after taking the award. "I am even more honoured that this award has been given to me on the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi's birth. It makes it even more special," said the Prime Minister. The PM arrived in Seoul on Thursday in his second visit to the Asian nation after his state visit in May 2015. Award dedicated to people of India. PM @narendramodi was conferred #SeoulPeacePrize in an award ceremony organised by Seoul Peace Prize Foundation in recognition of his efforts in promoting global peace & harmony through inclusive economic growth & improving quality of life. pic.twitter.com/cOrYVQymUY - Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 22, 2019 "Since 1988, the world has changed vastly... one of them being global poverty, which has declined significantly... But the challenges today are quite different too... Climate Change and terrorism are the two greatest threats the world faces today," PM Modi said. "The time has come for all right-thinking nations to join hands to completely eradicate terrorist networks. Only by doing so, Can we replace hate with harmony; destruction with development and transform the landscape of violence and vendetta into a postcard for peace," PM Modi said. "Like Korea, India has also suffered the pain of division and cross-border strife. Our endeavour towards peaceful development has only too often been derailed by cross-border terrorism," he said, as back home the country mourned the deaths of 40 CRPF soldiers in the Pulwama suicide attack last week and an angry nation called for revenge. He is the 14th recipient of the award sponsored by the Seoul Peace Prize Foundation. Past winners include former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and international relief organisations like Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam. A short film on the life of PM Modi was also screened at the grand event. While conferring the award, the organisers acknowledged his policies such as the notes ban that it said contributed to the growth of the economy. The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 to commemorate the success of the 24th Olympic Games held in Seoul. It has its genesis in the Korean people's yearning for peace in the Korean peninsula.