Seoul: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday joined the illustrious club of the likes of Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon and Angela Merkel as he was honoured with the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize.

Mr Modi received the 14th Seoul Peace Prize for the year 2018 at a ceremony organised by the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation “in recognition of his national and international contributions”.
“I am deeply honoured to be awarded the Prize….the award belongs to the people of India and to the success India has achieved in last five years,” the Prime Minister said at the grand ceremony.

The citation read out on the occasion applauded Prime Minister Modi’s works in ensuring inclusive growth and putting the country into an unprecedented growth rate.

“India is experiencing high speed growth, that was never seen before,” the statement said.

It also lauded the Prime Minister for pushing economic reforms and acknowledged his economic philosophy of ‘Modinomics’ that had brought in poorer sections of Indians into the mainstream of banking.
The citation has also lauded the Prime Minister for his initiative to launch the International Solar Alliance.

“May there be peace everywhere……may there be eternal peace,” Mr Modi said on the occasion quoting Sanskrit mantras.

The Prime Minister said the entire monetary prize amount would be dedicated to the Namami Gange project – committed to clean Ganga.
“I dedicate this award to the 1.3 billion people of India for giving me the opportunity to serve them.

I am honoured that this award is being conferred on me in the year that we celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” the Prime Minister said.

The Seoul Peace Prize was established in 1990 as a biennial recognition to commemorate the success of the 24th Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul.

The Prize was established to reflect the wishes of the Korean people and to crystallize their desire for everlasting peace on earth.

The awardees receives a diploma, a plaque and honorarium of US$200,000.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan got the award in 1998 while the German leader Angela Merkel was honoured the award for 2014.