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New Zealand icon Sir Edmund Hillary was acknowledged as one of India's favourite sons today when his widow was presented with the highest civilian award India can offer.
Lady June Hillary was presented with the Padma Vibhushan award for exceptional and distinguished service.
Since it was established in 1954, 239 awards have been presented but only 13 to people of non-Indian descent.
After receiving the award from India's minister of commerce and industry, Kamal Nath, at a ceremony at Government House in Auckland, Lady Hillary said Sir Edmund, who died on January 11, would have been particularly proud.
"He would be absolutely thrilled to receive it. This is a very great honour and he would have been very pleased indeed," said Lady Hillary.
Sir Edmund was New Zealand High Commissioner to India from 1985 to 1989 - "when we were there, there were two Hs - Hadlee and Hillary," said Lady Hillary.
The Hadlee was New Zealand cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee, known throughout India for his exploits on the cricket field and Sir Edmund was much admired for his conquest of Mt Everest in 1953 and his work in India and Nepal since then.
"They really took the headlines so it was very easy to move around India. It was a great time," Lady Hillary said.
Mr Nath said India was "very proud" of Sir Edmund, who was considered as an Indian as well as a New Zealander.
"He was not just a mountaineer. He had a commitment and devotion to service," Mr Nath said.
"We have recognised not only his achievement as a mountaineer, but Sir Edmund as a human being who had many roads - as a high commissioner, as somebody who cemented the bonds between India and New Zealand and as somebody who worked in Indian society.
"His name is a very familiar name right across the country."
- NZPA
