PM Modi pays floral tribute to former Japanese premier Abe at his state funeral

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday offered a floral tribute to former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe at his state funeral in Tokyo.

Representatives from over 100 countries, including more than 20 heads of state and governments, attended Abe’s funeral.

Modi, who arrived here early in the morning, joined several global leaders to pay tributes to the former prime minister who reshaped Japan’s foreign policy, including setting out a bold vision for a quantum leap in ties with India.

The prime minister ”paid his respects to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe during the State Funeral at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo,” the Ministry of External Affairs tweeted.

”A tribute to a great visionary and to his immense contribution in the elevation of the India-Japan partnership,” it said, sharing a photograph of Modi paying tribute to Abe.

Besides Modi, among the more than 700 foreign guests are US Vice President Kamala Harris and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.

At a park near the funeral venue, large numbers of people gathered to lay flowers at a set of stands from early in the morning, it said.

Abe, 67, was shot dead while making a campaign speech on July 8 in the southern Japanese city of Nara.