Shashi Tharoor receives France’s highest civilian award, Legion of Honour, for ‘outstanding career’
Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram. The accolade was announced in August 2022 but awarded on February 20. France recognised Tharoor for his efforts to strengthen the bond between India and France, his dedication to global peace and his friendship with France, as per a statement issued by the French Embassy.
Larcher highlighted Tharoor's impressive career and his dedication to fostering a better world. "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," PTI quoted Larcher as saying. "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 recognises your accomplishments, your friendship, your love of France, your commitment to a fairer world," Larcher said. Tharoor expressed his gratitude while receiving the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), instituted in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, "To my mind, the conferral of this award to an Indian is an acknowledgement 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," Tharoor said. Durga Charan Rakshit was the first Indian to receive the honour.
Rakshit was given the award in 1896 for his humanitarian work. Then, Mohamed Haniff - the Deputy Mayor of Pondicherry in French India - got it in 1937. In independent India, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan received the honour in 2005.
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