17 June, 2025:
With the prestigious ‘Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III’—Cyprus’s highest civilian honour—conferred on him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become the first Indian PM to receive the highest number of international awards and honours while in office.
According to available records, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received 28 of the highest civilian honours from foreign nations between 2016 and 2025, in recognition of his leadership on the global stage.
Since Independence, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru received two international honours, a distinction matched by Indira Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh during their respective tenures. Rajiv Gandhi, however, did not receive any such recognition while in office.
"This honour is not just mine; it is the honour of 140 crore Indians... I dedicate this honour to the friendly relations between India and Cyprus and our shared values and mutual understanding," PM Modi had said in his acceptance speech.
Meanwhile, the conferment of the award cast a quiet glow on a corner of central Delhi, where a short, tree-lined stretch named Archbishop Makarios Marg, nestled behind Lodhi Road, suddenly found itself in the spotlight.
The road, renamed in the 1980s, honours Makarios III—the towering figure who served as Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus from 1950 to 1977 and later became the country’s first President. Widely regarded as the founding father of the Republic of Cyprus, he led the nation’s transition from British colonial rule. The award conferred on Modi also bears his name, cementing a historical thread between Nicosia and New Delhi—woven through shared diplomacy and the legacy of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
This visit to Cyprus, part of Prime Minister Modi's three-nation tour that includes the G7 Summit in Canada, carries significant strategic weight for India, particularly against the backdrop of Pakistan’s deepening ties with Turkey.
