New Delhi: Russia on Friday conferred Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the highest state decoration -- Order of St Andrew -- for exceptional services in promoting a special and privileged strategic partnership between Russian and India.

"On April 12, @narendramodi was decorated with the Order of St Andrew the Apostle for exceptional services in promoting special and privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India and friendly relations between the Russian and Indian peoples," the Russian Embassy tweeted. The Order of St Andrew the Apostle the First-Called is the highest order and the oldest state order of Russia, first established in 1698. It was abolished under the erstwhile Soviet Union but re-established in 1998.

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