PM Modi in Japan: "Shinzo Abe strengthened India-Japan partnership"

Tokyo, Sept 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi who arrived in Japan early Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo. In the bilateral meeting, PM Modi noted the contributions of late Prime Minister Abe in strengthening the India-Japan partnership as well in conceptualizing the vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

 

 

PM Modi arrived in the country to attend the state funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe who was attacked on July 8 in the city of Nara during a campaign speech and died later that day. “We are meeting today in this hour of sorrow. After coming to Japan today, I find myself feeling more sad because the last time I was here, I had a very long talk with Abe San. I never thought that after leaving, I would have to hear such news,” Modi said in his opening remarks at the meeting, speaking in Hindi.

 

 

PM Modi said Abe and Kishida, in his former role of the foreign minister, took India-Japan ties to new heights and expanded them in many areas. "Our friendship and the friendship of India and Japan played a huge role in creating a global impact," he said. The people of India remember and miss Abe, he added.

 

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs, said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed his deepest condolences for the demise of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Prime Minister noted the contributions of late Prime Minister Abe in strengthening India-Japan partnership as well in conceptualizing the vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region."

 

 

Both leaders had a productive exchange of views on further deepening bilateral relations. They also discussed a number of regional and global issues.

 

The leaders renewed their commitment towards further strengthening the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership, and in working together in the region and in various international groupings and institutions.

 

Abe, Japan’s longest serving prime minister, was assassinated during an election campaign meeting on July 8. India had announced one day of national mourning on July 9 as a mark of respect for Abe.

 

Besides attending Abe’s state funeral at the Budokan, a famous indoor arena originally built for the 1964 Olympics, Modi will participate in a greeting occasion at Akasaka Palace, where Kishida and Akie Abe, the former premier’s widow, are expected to be present.

 

Abe and Modi elevated bilateral relations to the status of a special strategic and global partnership in 2014. The “Confluence of Two Seas” speech by Abe at a joint session of India’s Parliament in 2007 laid the ground for the emergence of the Indo-Pacific region as a contemporary political, strategic, and economic reality, and his contributions to bilateral ties was recognised when India conferred the Padma Vibhushan on him in 2021.