Singer and musician Adnan Sami Khan, who renounced his Pakistani citizenship in 2016, received the Padmi Shri award on Monday from India's President Ram Nath Kovid in New Delhi.

The Padma Shri is one of the highest civilian awards announced every year on the eve of India's Republic Day. It is given for distinguished service and "it seeks to recognize achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved" according to the site about the awards.

When Sami's name was announced earlier this year, the Nationalist Congress Party called it an "insult to 130 crore Indians."

According to NDTV, Sami lashed out at Jaiveer Shergill of the Congress after the politician called Sami's Padma honour as "chamchagiri."

Sami said "the people who are criticising are some minor politicians. They are doing it because of some political agenda that they have and it has nothing to do with me. I am not a politician, I am a musician."

Sami took to Twitter on Monday to share his delight at receiving the honor.

He also tweeted an image with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sami also gave an interview to Arnab Goswami in which he described the experience of receiving the award, saying he was grateful to be a proud Indian.

Sami began his music career in the early 1990s but found acclaim for his album to Sargam, a movie he also starred in with Zeba Bakhtiar who he married in 1993. They split in 1996; they have a son Azaan who is an acclaimed musician in Pakistan.

In a 2019 interview for BBC, Azaan spoke about his relationship with his father. “He’s made certain decisions about where he wants to live and which country he chooses to call home. I respect that. But I choose to go home. Now it’s my choice and I chose to work in Pakistan.”

Adnan Sami found fame in India after he began visiting the country in the early 2000s and collaborated with musicians like Asha Bhosle and AR Rahman to name a few.

Pakisitani Twitter has long joked about Sami's Indian citizenship being a front for him being a spy and they responded with the same on news of his Padma Shri.