Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Sunday awarded Uzbekistan’s highest state honour, the ‘Order of Oliy Darajali Do‘stlik’, by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during his two-day state visit to the Central Asian nation. The award recognises the longstanding friendship and strengthening strategic ties between India and Uzbekistan. It was presented in Tashkent as the two leaders held delegation-level talks on expanding cooperation across several sectors.
Thanking Shavkat Mirziyoyev for the honour, PM Modi described him as a “brother” and said the visit would remain memorable. “The warmth with which my delegation and I were welcomed made us feel right at home, and for this, I express my deepest heartfelt gratitude to the President,” Prime Minister Modi said.
Calling the award a moment of “immense pride”, the Prime Minister highlighted the significance of the word “Dostlik”, which means friendship. “‘Dostlik’ means friendship. This single word exquisitely captures and expresses the sentiment that lies at the very core of relations between India and Uzbekistan,” he said.
PM Modi said the honour should be seen as recognition of India’s heritage and the efforts of its 1.4 billion people rather than as a personal distinction. “I may only be a medium for all your words, but the true recipients are my thousands-of-years-old heritage, and the perseverance and hard work of 1.4 billion countrymen,” he said. “This honour does not belong to just one individual; it belongs to 1.4 billion people of India,” Modi added, dedicating the award to the “centuries-old friendship and our shared heritage” between the two countries.
The Prime Minister also credited Mirziyoyev’s leadership for strengthening bilateral relations, which he said had now been elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. “Under your visionary leadership and your friendship toward India, our relations have grown consistently stronger. They continue to successfully scale new heights at every step,” PM Modi said.
The Uzbek honour has previously been conferred on leaders including Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, former Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
