New Delhi: Congress MP and Shashi Tharoor has been awarded the 'Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur' (The Legion of Honor), France's highest civilian honor for his writings and speeches. The French Order of Merit, established in 1802, by Napoleon Bonaparte, is awarded for outstanding civil or military conduct.
People have congratulated Shashi Tharoor on Twitter after the news of being awarded France's highest civilian honor went public. Tharoor, on the other hand, tweeted, "I am honored to be recognized in this way as someone who cherishes our ties with France, loves the language and admires the culture. My gratitude and appreciation to those who have deemed me fit to bestow this honor."
Shashi Tharoor was honored with a Spanish award in 2010
In 2010, Tharoor received a similar honor from the Spanish government when the King of Spain presented him with the Encomienda of the Royal Spanish Order of Charles III. Shashi Tharoor is a two-time Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs. He has previously served as the Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the UPA government.
Tharoor is also a former diplomat with a career spanning 23 years at the United Nations. He is also a renowned author with several fiction and non-fiction books.