India took to Shinzo Abe as its own: PM Modi in blog

Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, JULY 8

In a personal tribute to Shinzo Abe on his blog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We in India mourn his passing as one of our own, just as he embraced us with an open heart. His life may have been cut short tragically, but his legacy will endure forever.”

“I first met him in 2007 during my visit to Japan as Gujarat CM. Right from that first meeting, our friendship went beyond the trappings of office and the shackles of official protocol,” he recalled.

Later on, Abe worked with New Delhi to usher in an unprecedented transformation of the strategic partnership between India and Japan. “From a largely narrow, bilateral economic relationship, Abe helped turn it into a broad, comprehensive one, which covered every field of national endeavour. He was resolute in pursuing the civil nuclear agreement with India and decisive in offering the most generous terms for the High-Speed Rail. Among his most enduring legacies was his foresight to recognise the changing tides and his leadership in responding to it. Long before others, in his seminal speech to the Indian Parliament in 2007, he laid the ground for the emergence of the Indo-Pacific region as a contemporary political, strategic and economic reality, a region that will also shape the world in this century,” noted PM Modi.

“The Quad, the ASEAN-led forums, the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure all benefited from his contributions. Quietly and without fanfare, and overcoming hesitation at home and scepticism abroad, he transformed Japan’s strategic engagement, including in defence, connectivity, infrastructure and sustainability, across the Indo-Pacific region. For that, the region is more optimistic about its destiny and the world more confident about its future,” observed the PM.

His contribution to India-Japan relations was richly recognised by the conferment upon him of the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 2021, wrote the PM. The PM turned nostalgic about their joint visits to the Toji Temple in Kyoto and the Sabarmati Ashram, a train journey on the Shinkansen, the Ganga Aarti in Kashi and the elaborate tea ceremony in Tokyo. “The list of our memorable interactions is indeed long,’’ he noted.

Even when he was not Japan PM between 2007 and 2012, and more recently after 2020, the personal bond remained as strong as ever. PM Modi last met Abe this May. “He was his usual self-energetic, captivating, charismatic and very witty. When I said goodbye to him that day, little did I imagine that it would be our final meeting. I will miss him dearly,’’ wrote the PM.

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