New Delhi: Congress MP and orator Shashi Tharoor has been awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur (the Legion of Honour), France’s highest civilian award, for his remarkable publications and speeches.
Napoleon Bonaparte established the French order of merit in 1802 for outstanding civil or military performance.
Tharoor tweeted, “I am honoured to be recognised in this way as someone who cherishes our relations with France, loves the language, and admires the culture. I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to those who decided to give me this honour.
Tharoor was given a comparable honour by the Spanish government when the Spanish King presented Tharoor with the Encomienda de la Real Order Espanola de Carlos in 2010.
Shashi Tharoor has been an MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.
In the UPA government, he served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs.
He was a former diplomat attached to the UNO for 23 years. Besides this, he is a celebrated author who has written several fiction and non-fiction books.
The Congress leader is famous for using unbelievable vocabulary in his Twitter posts, so netizens have to turn the pages of their dictionaries or use dictionary apps.