President of India Draupadi Murmu has been conferred with the highest civilian award of Suriname. The President of the Republic of Suriname, Chandrika Prasad Santokhi, on Monday, conferred the award ‘The Grand Order of the Chain of Yellow Star’ on her. President Murmu has become the first Indian to receive this award.
Murmu said after receiving the award, ‘I am feeling very honored. It is very important not only for me but also for the 140 crore people of India.
On this occasion, he participated in a cultural program organized to mark 150 years of the arrival of Indians in Suriname.
President Draupadi Murmu met Santokhi at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. Delegation-level talks were also held between the two. After this, 4 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were also signed between the two countries. These MoUs have been signed in the fields of health, agriculture, and capacity building.
President Murmu reached Suriname on Sunday. He was received with full state honors by President Chandrika Santokhi at the Johann Adolf Pengel Airport in the capital Paramaribo.
Murmu said that like India, people of many castes, religions, and languages live in Suriname. The friendship between India and Suriname is built on historical and cultural ties.
However, the trade between the two countries is well below the potential. There is a need to increase cooperation to increase bilateral trade. Cooperation in Defence, Ayurveda, and the Pharma sector can be increased further.