The U.S. National Security Council (NSC) announced via Twitter on December 21 that the Legion of Merit will be awarded to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister John Morrison at the same time. The ambassadors of Japan, India and Australia received the medals from White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien as their respective representatives.
The NSC tweet began with a graphic with a physical picture of the medal and a group photo of the medal presentation site. In the picture, Japanese Ambassador Shinsuke Sugiyama, Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu and Australian Ambassador Arthur Sinodinos received the Medal of Merit on behalf of Shinzo Abe, Modi and Morrison, respectively. “They also posed for a photo with White House National Security Advisor O’Brien.
Then, the NSC official tweeted three consecutive tweets to further explain the award. The tweet said that the medal was awarded to Shinzo Abe for his “leadership and vision in the free and open Indo-Pacific”, to Modi for his “leadership in enhancing the U.S.-India strategic partnership”, and to Morrison for his for his “leadership in addressing global challenges and promoting collective security.
The Meritorious Service Medal was established by a decision of the U.S. Congress on July 20, 1942. It is awarded for meritorious service in the U.S. Armed Forces or Allied Forces (usually the principal officer). For non-war-related service, the term “principal” is applied more narrowly than in wartime, and the U.S. National Meritorious Service Medal is awarded without ranking, one meritorious service medal for each award, except for the award of the Foreign Service Medal under the conditions set forth in Army Regulation 672-5-1 However, when the Meritorious Service Medal is awarded to foreign military personnel under the conditions set forth in Army Regulation 672-5-1, it is awarded at four levels: Grand Commander, Commander, Officer, and Corps Member levels. This time, Shinzo Abe, Modi and Morrison were awarded the highest level of the “Grand Commander” medal.
In response, media outlets such as Kyodo News and Hindustan Times paid attention to the “Order of Merit” awarded to political figures in their respective countries. In particular, the Hindustan Times reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the Order of Merit at the highest level, which is normally awarded only to heads of state or government of foreign countries.
The newspaper quoted a senior official as saying, “The Medal of Merit essentially brings the Quadrilateral Dialogue (Quad) from the experimental stage to the mainstream and institutionalizes the security structure. The world has now realized that the real father of Quad is China, forcing democracies to consolidate relations due to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, Eastern Ladakh and against Taiwan. It is another matter that India, Australia and Japan have a bipartisan relationship with the United States, sharing common democracy and values.” For its part, Kyodo News reported Abe’s medal while making a point of highlighting his close personal relationship with Trump from the start of his presidency in 2017.
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