Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next month. The Japanese government has scheduled the state funeral for Abe on September 27. The funeral ceremony will take place at the Nippon Budokan arena in the Kitanomaru National Garden in Tokyo. PM Modi is also likely to hold a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Japan is one of India's key partners in the region, with both countries cooperating in the Quad format of comprehensive partnership alongside the United States and Australia. Modi and Abe maintained friendly ties both during and after the latter's tenure. Earlier in May, Modi met Abe nearly two years after the Japanese PM stepped down, as part of his visit to Japan to take part in the Quad summit. After the assassination of Abe, PM Modi declared one day of national mourning in India. PM Modi also penned a blog titled "My Friend, Abe San". "In the passing away of Abe, Japan and the world have lost a great visionary. And, I have lost a dear friend," he had said. Abe`s funeral on September 27 will be the second state funeral for a former prime minister since World War 2. The first one was held in 1967 for Shigeru Yoshida.
