Russia on Friday awarded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Order of St. Andrew, the highest civilian award the Russian Federation offers. Modi received the award for “exceptional services in promoting a special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India.” Modi responded by saying he was “honored to receive this prestigious award,” offering his thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian people. “The foundations of India-Russia friendship are deep and the future of our partnership is bright,” said Modi. “Extensive cooperation between our nations has led to extraordinary outcomes for our citizens.” The Times of India listed some previous foreign recipients of the award, including Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Azerbaijan’s President Geydar Aliev. Foreign honorees generally travel to Moscow for a formal ceremony at the St. Andrew Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. Modi will probably appreciate the timing of Russia’s announcement, arriving as it does at the beginning of India’s protracted election season. Putin’s gesture of support for Modi could be seen as an effort to sew up a long and complex Russia-India relationship that seems constantly on the verge of either fusing into a tighter strategic alliance or coming apart over irreconcilable differences, as summarized by the Diplomat on Friday: In fact, while India and Russia have had a long and warm relationship historically and Russia remains an important strategic partner (it is one of only two countries India has an annual bilateral summit with, the other being Japan), structural trends are pulling them in different directions. Part of it has to do with perceptions on both sides. On India’s side, it can at times appear not to acknowledge the reality that Russia needs China far more than it needs India, and that its own diversification of partners in both the economic and security domains can also raise concerns in Moscow and complicate bilateral dealings. On Russia’s side, there is at times not enough of an appreciation for India’s strategic considerations, including its sensitivities toward China, as well as an acknowledgment that some of Moscow’s foreign policy activities can cause headaches in New Delhi. But developments have also accelerated these perceptions as well. Russia’s adventurism abroad, including in Ukraine, China’s rise and its increasing convergence with Russia as it does so, rising U.S. competition with both Beijing and Moscow as it has gradually warmed to New Delhi, and upped conversation on the Indo-Pacific and the divergent approaches by India and Russia have all contributed to this. This impacts India’s relationship with the United States as well since the U.S. has major economic and strategic interests with India as well. A little tooth-grinding at the State Department over Modi accepting friendship awards from Putin – and buying $7 billion worth of heavy military hardware from him, including the same surface-to-air missiles that currently have Turkey in hot water with Washington – is the price to be paid for having India as a major regional ally against China and a check on Pakistan. The State Department might need to call in a crack team of emergency dentists if India used its Russian missiles to shoot down a Pakistani F-16. Russian competition for India’s energy sector, both gas and nuclear, is also a strategic concern because it helps Russia achieve its objective of weakening U.S. sanctions as an instrument of foreign policy. Putin has plenty of reasons to celebrate Modi’s award-winning friendship right now.<doc-sep>Russia has conferred Indian PM Narendra Modi with the country's highest civilian award. The Indian Prime Minister has been honoured with the Order of Saint Andrew The Apostle for exceptional services in promoting special & privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India. "On April 12, Narendra Modi was decorated with the Order of St Andrew the Apostle for exceptional services in promoting special & privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India, and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian peoples," the Russian embassy in India said in a tweet.<doc-sep>New Delhi: After United Arab Emirates, Russia on Friday has become the second country to announce a national award for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the ongoing election campaign. A Kremlin press release noted that the Russian president Vladimir Putin signed an executive order conferring the “the Order of St Andrew the Apostle the First-Called” on Modi. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the Order of St Andrew for outstanding achievements in promoting partnership with Russia https://t.co/mdTIVoFDJ5 — President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) April 12, 2019 The highest Russian national order was presented to Modi for “his distinguished contribution to the development of a privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India and friendly ties between the Russian and Indian peoples”, as per the Russian release. On April 4, the UAE had also announced that Modi had been chosen for the Order of Zayed, the highest decoration medal for foreign leaders. India’s election commission announced the schedule for Lok Sabha elections on March 10, which marked the start of the imposition of the model code of conduct. Also read: UAE Confers Zayed Medal on Modi, No Clarity on Travel Plans Yet It is still not clear when Modi will collect these awards. Russia has earlier invited the next Indian prime minster to attend the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September 2017. Modi was quick to express gratitude for the award and praised President Putin. “President Putin remains a source of great strength for the India-Russia friendship. Under his visionary leadership, bilateral and multilateral cooperation between our nations has scaled new heights,” he tweeted. Honoured to receive this prestigious award. I thank President Putin and the people of Russia. Foundations of India-Russia friendship are deep & the future of our partnership is bright. Extensive cooperation between our nations has led to extraordinary outcomes for our citizens. https://t.co/4ppEC7ZAWe — Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 12, 2019 External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj also issued a celebratory tweet to point out that Modi has received several international awards. This award is a recognition of true India-Russia’s Druzhba Dosti. On behalf of all Indians, I profusely thank President Putin @KremlinRussia_E — Chowkidar Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) April 12, 2019 According to a MEA press release, the award has been conferred to 18 “distinguished personalities” since 1998. The foreign leaders who have received this award include Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev. During the initial years of the Modi government, Moscow had largely felt that New Delhi had moved more closer to an US embrace. The relationship with Russia is largely uni-dimensional, with defence being the focus of ties. Economic relations have largely lagged behind, even despite both capitals having repeatedly underline the need to broad-base the relationship. Also read: Modi Wins ‘First-Ever’ Philip Kotler Presidential Award – But What Is it? The informal Sochi summit in May 2018 was supposed to bridge the trust deficit and improve the chemistry at the leadership level. India announced in October that it had finalised S-400 missile system, despite threat of sanctions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). New Delhi has usually backed Moscow’s position on key political issues like Crimea and Syria. However, both sides had diverged in Afghanistan, where India has been concerned at increasing Russian and Pakistani closeness with Moscow keen to bring the Taliban to the table to accelerate the withdrawal of US troops.<doc-sep>
PM Modi has thanked the Russian president for the award (File) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday showered lavish praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin, putting on display bonhomie between the two leaders. Accepting Russia's highest civilian order announced for his promotion of ties between the two countries, PM Modi said President Putin was a "source of great strength" for the India-Russia friendship. "President Putin remains a source of great strength for the India-Russia friendship. Under his visionary leadership, bilateral and multilateral cooperation between our nations has scaled new heights," PM tweeted. PM Modi will get Russia's highest civilian award, 'Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle', for promoting a special and privileged strategic partnership between Russian and India, the country informed today. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the decree to award the PM, its embassy tweeted. "On April 12, Narendra Modi was decorated with the Order of St Andrew the Apostle for exceptional services in promoting special & privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian peoples," the Russian Embassy said in a tweet. PM Modi has thanked the Russian president for the award. "Honoured to receive this prestigious award. I thank President Putin and the people of Russia. Foundations of India-Russia friendship are deep and the future of our partnership is bright. Extensive cooperation between our nations has led to extraordinary outcomes for our citizens," he tweeted. The Order of 'St Andrew the Apostle' is the highest order and the oldest state order of Russia, first established in 1698. It was abolished under the Soviet Union but re-established in 1998. This is the second international award the PM received this month. He was awarded Zayed Medal, the United Arab Emirates' highest civilian award, as a mark of appreciation for his efforts to boost bilateral ties between the two nations.