President Ranil pays last respects to former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe

President Ranil Wickremesinghe attended the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo today (Sep 27) to pay tribute to the leader who was assassinated back in early July this year.

The President was accompanied by his Chief-Of-Staff, Sagala Ratnayake.

Several foreign dignitaries including Vice-President of the United States of America, Kamala Haris, also attended the funeral.

A 19-gun salute was sounded in honour of the former leader Abe, as his ashes, carried by his widow Akie, arrived at the Budokan venue in Tokyo.

The motorcade carrying his remains had travelled from his widow’s home in the capital, past a row of white-uniformed armed troops who stood to attention.

Outside the Budokan, thousands of Japanese people stood in line as the ashes arrived, waiting to deliver flowers and say a prayer in two mourning tents.

Abe was Japan’s longest-serving prime minister and one of the country’s most recognisable political figures, known for cultivating international alliances and his “Abenomics” economic strategy.

-with inputs from agencies