New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed his gratitude and deep satisfaction after Dominica conferred him with its highest honour for his contributions to the Caribbean nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and his dedication to strengthening the ties between the two nations.

During the ceremony, the Prime Minister extended this honour to the people of India, saying, “This honour is not only mine but of 140 crore people of India, their efforts, their values and their tradition. We are two democracies, and we together are role models of women’s empowerment for the world. It is a matter of deep satisfaction that we were able to help the people of Dominica during a pandemic like Covid-19.”

PM Modi in a post on X shared glimpses of the ceremony with the caption reading, “Honoured to be conferred with highest national award by Dominica. I dedicate it to the 140 crore people of India.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs in a separate post on X said, “The award is a recognition of PM’s statesmanship and contribution to Dominica during the COVID-19 pandemic and his commitment to strengthening India-Dominica ties.”

This comes as the prime minister, who is in Guyana on the last leg of his three-nation visit, was conferred the “Dominica Award of Honour” by President Sylvanie Burton of Dominica during the India-CARICOM Summit.

Furthermore, Guyana and Barbados will also confer their top awards to Prime Minister Modi, bringing his tally of international honours to 19.

Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced its top award to the Prime Minister a few days ago saying, ” In February 2021, Prime Minister Modi supplied Dominica with 70,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine — a generous gift which enabled Dominica to extend support to its Caribbean neighbours.”

In accepting the offer of the award, Prime Minister Modi emphasised on the importance of collaboration in tackling global challenges such as climate change and geopolitical conflicts, affirming India’s commitment to working alongside Dominica and the Caribbean in addressing these issues.

(With inputs from PTI)