Hours after being conferred with UAE's highest civilian award 'Zayed Medal', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the country's Armed Forces, for this honour. Accepting the honour with utmost humility, Modi further said under the visionary leadership of Zayed, the strategic ties between India and UAE have reached new heights and this friendship is contributing to the peace and prosperity of the planet. Modi was awarded the prestigious Zayed Medal for playing a "pivotal role" in consolidating the long-standing friendship and joint strategic cooperation between the two countries.
Taking to Twitter, Modi wrote, Thank you, Your Highness Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. I accept this honour with utmost humility. Under your visionary leadership, our strategic ties have reached new heights. This friendship is contributing to the peace and prosperity of our people and planet".
Early in the day, President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan made the announcement to confer Modi with the award, the highest decoration awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states.
Extending her best wishes to the prime minister, Union Minister Sushma Swaraj said, "I am extremely happy to welcome the announcement of Order of Zayed for a great son of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi by His Highness Mohamed Bin Zayed".
The External Affairs Minister said the prestigious award was bestowed on Modi in recognition of his "stellar role" in ushering in a new era of strategic partnership with the UAE and the "best ever" relations with the Islamic world.
"On behalf of the people of India, I express our deep sense of gratitude to His Highness the President, His Highness the Crown Prince of UAE for this great honour. With this, you have honoured India and the people of India," Swaraj wrote in a series of tweets.
Modi visited the UAE for the second time as Prime Minister in February last year and held wide-ranging talks with the Crown Prince. After their talks, the two sides signed five agreements related to the energy sector, railways, manpower and financial services. The Prime Minister's first visit to the UAE took place in August 2015.
In February, the Crown Prince telephoned Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan as part of his efforts to de-escalate Indo-Pak tensions in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group which killed forty CRPF personnel.
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