Give him any award, and he’ll come running’: Narendra Modi racks up honours on overseas trips
Narendra Modi received the Guardian of the Blue Horizon award, with trophy and certificate,
from the Seychelles president, Patrick Herminie, at the weekend.
Photograph: State House Office of the president of the Republic of Seychelles
As Narendra Modi touched down in Seychelles over the weekend, the archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean swiftly bestowed one of its “highest” honours upon the Indian prime minister.
Modi beamed as he accepted the Guardian of the Blue Horizon award from Patrick Herminie, the Seychelles president, complete with a trophy and certificate. Observers soon pointed out that several things appeared to be off about the award. The certificate misspelled “republic” as “repubblic”, and even “Seychelles” as “Seycheeles”. The award, it transpired, had only been created three days before Modi’s arrival and he was the first and only recipient.
To add to the furore, when run through software, the certificate was widely flagged as AI-generated. The opposition Congress party were quick to jump on the controversy, claiming: “Give him [Modi] any award, and he’ll come running.”
They were in such a tearing hurry that they even got the official name of the Republic of Seychelles wrong,” the Congress politician Supriya Shrinate said on social media. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) hit back, saying it was a “proud moment for India” for him to receive the award for his “green leadership”
On Thursday, the Seychelles foreign ministry responded with a statement claiming that a “working draft” had accidentally been circulated and that an “authentic and duly approved” version had now been issued. “The Guardian of the Blue Horizon distinction is genuine,” added the foreign ministry.
