• By Mayukh Debnath
  • Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:05 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND
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Shashi Tharoor Gets Legion Of Honour: Congress MP and author Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday was conferred with the 'Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur' (Knight of the Legion of Honour), France's highest civilian honour, by Chairman of the French Senate, Gérard Larcher, on behalf of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Embassy of France in India informed.

The United Nations (UN) diplomat-turned-politician was felicitated with the award during a ceremony at the Residence of France. "The highest French civilian award came in recognition of Dr Tharoor’s tireless efforts to deepen Indo-French ties, commitment to international peace and cooperation, and as a long-standing friend of France," the French Embassy said in an official statement.

Conferring the honour on the Lok Sabha MP, Larcher said, "Through his outstanding career as a diplomat, author and politician, Shashi Tharoor has embraced the world with a thirst for knowledge and an intelligence that has led him to live several lifetimes in one, and all of them in service to India and a better world. Dr Tharoor is also a true friend of France, a Francophone with a keen understanding of France and its culture. Through this award which I have the privilege to confer, the French Republic recognizes your accomplishments, your friendship, your love of France, your commitment to a fairer world."

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Receiving the recognition, Tharoor, stated, "As someone who admires France, its people, their refinement, their language, and their culture, especially their literature and cinema, I am deeply humbled to be conferred your country's highest civilian honour. To my mind, the conferral of this award to an Indian is an acknowledgment of the deepening of Franco-Indian relations, and the continuity of the warmth that has been a feature of this relationship for a very long time."

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Instituted in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, the Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) is the highest civilian award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, regardless of the nationality of the recipients. The President of the French Republic is the Grand Master of the Order of the Legion of Honour.

(With inputs from ANI)