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Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Sunday awarded Kuwait's highest honour ‘The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’. It is the 20th international award bestowed upon him by a country.

‘The Order of Mubarak Al Kabeer’ is a knighthood order of Kuwait. It is awarded to Heads of State and foreign Sovereigns and members of foreign royal families in sign of friendship.

“I am honoured to be conferred the Mubarak Al-Kabeer Order by His Highness the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah. I dedicate this honour to the people of India and to the strong friendship between India and Kuwait,” PM Modi posted on X.

It has been previously awarded to foreign leaders like Bill Clinton, Prince Charles and George Bush.

Last month, PM Modi was conferred with the highest national award of Guyana, 'The Order of Excellence' during his visit to nation.

“I express my heartfelt gratitude to my friend President Irfaan Ali for conferring upon me Guyana's highest award. This is a living proof of your deep commitment to our relations which will continue to inspire us to move forward in every field,” PM Modi had said.

The prime minister was also conferred the "Dominica Award of Honour" by President Sylvanie Burton of Dominica.

"Honoured to be conferred with highest national award by Dominica. I dedicate it to the 140 crore people of India," Modi said in a post on X.

Guard of Honour 

The prime minister received a grand ceremonial welcome in Kuwait during his state visit to the Gulf nation. He was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour at the Bayan Palace, Kuwait. The Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah also present during the ceremony.

The details of the meeting were also shared by the Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs on X. "A special welcome on historic visit! PM @narendramodi arrives at the Bayan Palace in Kuwait to a ceremonial welcome and Guard of Honour. Warmly received by HH Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, PM of Kuwait. Extensive talks with HH the Amir, Crown Prince and PM of Kuwait lie ahead."

Israeli forces have captured two towns in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and are moving towards the neighboring Dara’a province, after militant groups took control of the Arab country.

Israeli troops seized the towns of Madinat al-Baath and Hader after they pushed into the buffer zone in the Quneitra area and launched artillery shelling in the strategic region.

According to Israeli media outlets, the incursion was launched following heavy shelling of surrounding areas.

Israeli army soldiers are now heading towards areas in Dara’a, located about 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Damascus.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers had taken over a Syrian army outpost at the summit of Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights.

Soldiers from Shaldag, the Israeli Air Force’s commando unit, captured the outpost “without encountering resistance,” according to Kan TV News.

The commander of the Israeli military’s Northern Command, Ori Gordin, and the commander of the Training Command, David Zini, also visited the summit, the broadcaster said.

The Syrian army reportedly left the post amid the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Israeli media also reported the entry of the regime’s tanks into Khan Arnabeh, which is to the northeast of Quneitra and five kilometers from the border of the occupied Golan.

The regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the decades-old agreement with Syria had collapsed, and he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights after Syrian soldiers had abandoned their positions.

The Israeli military also issued a warning, calling on residents of five towns in southern Syria to stay in their homes until further notice as it carried out dozens of air strikes against Syrian military bases, facilities and weapon depots.

These towns are Ofania, Quneitra, al-Hamidiyah, western al-Samadaniyah, and al-Qahtaniyah. 

Armed groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants, announced on Sunday that they had fully captured the Syrian capital and confirmed reports of the fall of the Assad government.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has called the Syrian conflict a "joint American and Zionist plot," while attributing a secondary role to a neighboring country in the crisis.

Speaking to a gathering in Tehran on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized, "There should be no doubt that what happened in Syria was plotted in the command rooms of the United States and Israel. We have evidence for this."

The Leader also pointed to the involvement of a neighboring nation, widely understood to be Turkey, stating, "One of the neighboring countries of Syria also played a role, but the primary planners are the US and the Zionist regime."

Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed fears of a weakened resistance front following the takeover of parts of Syria by militants and Takfiri terrorists. He assured that resistance will emerge stronger despite the adversities. "This is what the resistance is, this is what the resistance front is. The more you push, the stronger it becomes; the more you commit crimes, the more motivated it becomes. The more you fight with them, the more widespread it will be, and I tell you, by the Divine Power, the domain of resistance will cover the entire region more than before."

The Leader rejected analysis suggesting that a weakened resistance front would lead to Iran’s decline. "That ignorant analyst, unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagines that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak, and I say that by God's will and power and with the permission of God Almighty, Iran is strong and powerful and will only grow more powerful," Ayatollah Khamenei declared.

Highlighting the divisions among militant groups operating in Syria, the Leader noted, "Each group has its own agenda and all seek to stake out their own turf."