<P> There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens . It has been awarded to a naturalised Indian citizen , Mother Teresa in 1980 , and to two non-Indians , Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan in 1987 and the former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1990 . Sachin Tendulkar , at the age of 40 , became the youngest person and first athlete to receive the honour . In a special ceremony on 18 April 1958 , Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday . As of 2015 , the award has been conferred upon 45 people with 12 posthumous declarations . </P>
<P> There is no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens . It has been awarded to a naturalised Indian citizen , Mother Teresa in 1980 , and to two non-Indians , Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan of Pakistan in 1987 and the former South African president Nelson Mandela in 1990 . Sachin Tendulkar , at the age of 40 , became the youngest person and first athlete to receive the honour . In a special ceremony on 18 April 1958 , Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday . As of 2015 , the award has been conferred upon 45 people with 12 posthumous declarations . </P>
the first foreigner to receive bharat ratna was
the first foreigner to receive bharat ratna was
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan