On June 28, Seychelles President Patrick Herminie draped a brand new presidential distinction round Narendra Modi’s neck: the “Guardian of the Blue Horizon”. Modi was its first recipient. He will, in all likelihood, also be its only one.The Seychelles cabinet had approved the honour a mere three days before the ceremony. The citation was riddled with errors: “Republic” became “Repubblic”. “Seychelles” turned into “Seycheeles”.A technology journalist reported that the certificate image carried a SynthID signature, suggesting it had been produced using an AI image generator.Neither the Seychelles government nor India’s Ministry of External Affairs posted the citation on their official websites, a curious omission for a state honour bestowed on a sitting prime minister.Seychelles officials later offered an explanation. Their old honours framework had become politically contentious and had been repealed by the National Assembly, forcing the government to draft a fresh system in a hurry. Modi’s visit served as the convenient occasion to launch it.That account may well be true. However, it does not explain the typos, the apparent AI generation or why a 50-year-old nation marking its golden jubilee could not produce a clean certificate for a visiting head of government.This was not an isolated embarrassment. Four months earlier, on February 25, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana presented Modi with the “Medal of the Knesset” after his address to the Israeli parliament. This too was newly minted, with no prior recipients, no published regulations and, according to Israeli opposition lawmakers cited by Middle East Eye, no committee or presidential approval process behind it.Opposition members in the Knesset accused Ohana of inventing the award for the occasion, turning the parliament into an instrument of government public relations.A rare honour. A defining moment.Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has been conferred with the Speaker of the Knesset Medal, the highest honour of the Israeli Parliament.This recognition rises above ceremony. It reflects the strength of India-Israel friendship and the enhanced… pic.twitter.com/BKWAKL11L5— Rekha Gupta (@gupta_rekha) February 25, 2026