Western legacy media’s openly hostile posture toward Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is nothing new. Yet a recent article in The Guardian about the state honours he has received from foreign governments, the latest being from Seychelles, borders on desperation.
Prime Minister Modi has established an unprecedented record in global diplomacy, receiving more foreign state honours than any other democratically elected serving head of government in history (no verified comparable tally has been documented).
Quoting opposition figures in India, the piece titled ‘“Give him any award, he will come running”: Narendra Modi racks up honours on overseas trips’ seems to imply that Modi can be enticed into visiting a country if he is offered some kind of decoration.
However, in a frantic zeal to diminish the man, the author unwittingly elevates his standing: if leaders of nations as diverse as France and Brazil, Kuwait and Ethiopia, Barbados and Papua New Guinea are all so eager to host him that they are prepared to confer these awards, or even create them just for him, as the piece appears to suggest, that speaks volumes about his global stature. By the article’s own logic, no other leader in the world today commands that kind of clout, heft, respect or power—not Trump, not Xi, not Putin.
And let’s be honest—what world leader turns down an international honour? Even former US President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize just months after entering office. While that award itself was questionable, his successor Donald Trump has gone one step further, openly and persistently signalling his desperation for similar recognition. Accepting such honours is not unusual; what stands out is the extraordinary number received from such a diverse range of countries.
As of July 2026, Modi has been conferred 30+ foreign state honours from territories spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. They include honours from Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Russia, the United States, Bhutan, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Egypt, France, Greece, Nigeria, Dominica, Guyana, Kuwait, Barbados, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, Namibia, Ethiopia, Oman, Israel, Slovakia, Seychelles and Palestine. No other democratically elected serving head of government is known to have received as many foreign state honours while in office.
The political breadth of these recognitions is also striking. Modi has received honours from across traditional geopolitical divides: from the United States’ Legion of Merit to Russia’s Order of St. Andrew, from Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor to Palestine’s Grand Collar.
The collection demonstrates his ability to cultivate relationships simultaneously with nations that are themselves in tension—a diplomatic balancing act that few leaders have managed at this scale.
And India’s ties with many of these countries were built long before the honours arrived. During the COVID-19 pandemic, India supplied vaccines and medicines to nearly 100 countries, including Dominica, Barbados, Guyana, Papua New Guinea and many other small island and developing nations reflecting a broader approach that treats small states as valued partners, not geopolitical pawns.
Whether it’s keeping sea lanes safe from pirates, evacuating not only its own citizens but also foreign nationals from conflict zones such as Yemen, or rushing humanitarian assistance after disasters—from Nepal to Venezuela—India has consistently been at the forefront of serving humanity. India even deployed a field hospital to Türkiye after the devastating earthquake in February 2023 under Operation Dost despite the two countries often having strained relations.
India is the world’s third-largest economy by purchasing power, home to one of the world’s most powerful militaries, a leading space power, and the fastest-growing major economy. Yet unlike other superpowers, it engages as a partner rather than a bully—treating smaller nations with dignity and respect and seeking to uplift rather than dominate.
Perhaps these factors help explain why so many countries have chosen to honour the Indian Prime Minister.
One might debate whether these accolades are a recognition of India’s rise as a superpower or Modi’s personal diplomacy or both. What is not in dispute is the statistical record.
Historically, Modi has been conferred with the highest number of foreign state awards for any serving head of government (democratically elected or otherwise) with the exception of Yugoslavia’s Josip Broz Tito. However, Tito ruled a one-party, now disintegrated, socialist state (1945 – 1980) and is considered by many as a communist dictator hence not in the same league as democratically elected leaders.
The Guardian‘s piece is a symptom of a troubling decline in Western journalism: an increasing tendency to let ideology override rigour. Such articles invite questions about the extent of editorial bias a publication is willing to indulge in. Whatever one’s opinion of Modi, they do nothing to dent his reputation; they merely erode the credibility of the publications that run them.
In trying to mock the man, The Guardian makes a mockery of itself!
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