While giving a speech during an election campaign, Abe was shot at about 11:30 am local time in Nara on July 8, east of Osaka. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:03 pm.
Shinzo Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister when he stepped down in 2020 due to health reasons. He was the PM twice, during 2006-07 and 2012-20. In 2020, after resigning, he was succeeded by Yoshihide Suga and later by Fumio Kishida.
“Today we are meeting in this hour of sorrow. The last time I came I had a long conversation with former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. India is missing Shinzo Abe and remembering him and Japan," said PM Narendra Modi while meeting Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
Japanese PM Kishida visited India for the annual summit in March while Modi visited Japan for the Quad Leaders' Summit in May.
"The bilateral meeting between PM Modi and PM Kishida during the upcoming visit will be an opportunity for the two leaders to reaffirm their commitment to further strengthening of India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership," Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said on Monday.
"These meetings underscored the two leaders' commitment towards deepening India-Japan ties, particularly in the context of shaping a post-pandemic regional and global order," he said ahead of the prime minister's visit to Japan.
There is a deep converging relationship between India and Japan. Both nations are together in QUAD which is an organisation to tackle China's presence in the Indo-pacific region.
Amid tight security, about 4,300 attendees from over 100 countries, including more than 20 chiefs of nations and governments, gathered in Tokyo to pay their respects at a state funeral for Abe. The general public laid flowers at a nearby park.
The state funeral was an approximately three-hour ceremony held at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda city, Tokyo. About 20,000 police officers with modern security techniques were mobilised to ensure security in the capital.
(With inputs from PTI)
