PM Modi to attend state funeral for former Japan PM Abe on Sept 27: Japanese media

Tokyo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning to attend the state funeral for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on September 27 in Tokyo, the Japanese media quoted government officials as saying here on Wednesday. Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was fatally shot on July 8 while the 67-year-old leader was delivering a campaign speech in western Japan ahead of the House of Councillors election on July 10.

Modi, who had a close relationship with Abe, will meet with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during the visit, the Kyodo news agency reported. However, there was no official announcement in New Delhi or in Tokyo on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan to attend the state funeral of Abe.

Condoling the demise of his “dear friend” Abe last month, Prime Minister Modi said the former Japanese premier dedicated his life to making the world a better place. “He (Abe) was a towering global statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator. He dedicated his life to making Japan and the world a better place,” Modi had tweeted. Meanwhile, Japan and India are also planning to hold a second round of “two-plus-two” security talks involving their foreign and defence ministers on September 8 in Tokyo, the Kyodo report said on Wednesday.

Modi last visited Japan in May when he joined a summit of the Quad group hosted by Kishida and involving Australia and the United States. At the planned ministerial security talks, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada will engage their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, the report said.

They will likely discuss joint exercises involving the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Indian military, among other topics, it said. The two countries launched the two-plus-two framework in 2019.