Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Sunday conferred with the highest state honour of Egypt, the 'Order of the Nile' award in Cairo.
Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi conferred the award upon PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit of the African nation. PM Modi arrived in Egypt from the United States where he was on a state visit and was hosted by President Joe Biden.
In a moment of pride, this was the 13th such highest state honour that was conferred upon PM Modi by countries across the world. He had been conferred with many international awards including the Companion of the Order of Logohu, Companion of the Order of Fiji and Ebakl Award by the Republic of Palau among others during the nine years of his tenure.
Meanwhile, during the visit, PM Modi and the Egyptian President El-Sisi signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Cairo today.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi visited the Heliopolis War Cemetery in Cairo and paid tributes to the Indian soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice during the First World War.
He also visited the Al-Hakim Mosque in Egypt's Cairo. PM Modi interacted with community leaders and praised the strong people-to-people ties between India and Egypt.
It may be mentioned that the PM's visit to the Al-Hakim Mosque holds significance for India the mosque was restored with the help of India's Dawoodi Bohra community, the Egyptian government's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said. The latest restoration was completed about three months ago.
The Al-Hakim Mosque is a historic and prominent mosque in Cairo named after Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah (985-1021), the 16th Fatimid caliph. The mosque was originally built by Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah's father, Caliph Al-'Aziz Billah, towards the end of the 10th century, in the year 990, and was later completed by Al-Hakim in the year 1013.
The mosque is also known as Al-Anwar, meaning "the Illuminated", similar in style to the name of the earlier Al-Azhar Mosque founded by the Fatimids. It is the second-largest mosque in the city of Cairo, and the fourth oldest.
