The French government has honoured Congress MP Shashi Tharoor with its highest civilian honour, 'Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur’, for his writings and speeches. The French ambassador in New Delhi wrote to Tharoor informing him of the honour. The honour will be bestowed upon him when any French minister visits India next. Last year Tharoor delivered a speech in French at Alliance Francaise.
In 2010, Tharoor received an honour from the King of Spain-- he was bestowed with the ‘Encomienda de la Real Order Espanola de Carlos III’. “Thanks. As one who cherishes our relations with France, loves the language and admires the culture, I am honoured to be recognized in this way. My gratitude & appreciation to those who have seen fit to award me this distinction. @FranceinIndia,” Tharoor wrote on Twitter. The order of merit established by Napolean Bonaparte in 1802, is awarded for excellent civil or military conduct.
Tharoor, a two-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the erstwhile UPA government. Tharoor is known to use rarely used English words on Twitter, which often has twitterati scratching their heads.
