The Padma Vibhushan award conferred upon late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been handed over to his wife Akie Abe in Tokyo by the Embassy of India in Japan.

The award, India’s second highest civilian honour, was given to the former PM’s wife by the Indian Ambassador Sanjay Kumar Verma in a small ceremony organised in the Japanese capital.

Abe was among the seven people named as recipients of the Padma Vibhushan award in January 2021.

Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister, who was instrumental in bringing the two nations together and elevated the India-Japan relationship to the level of a Special Strategic and Global Partnership, was assassinated while giving a speech in the city of Nara on July 8.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Tokyo to attend the State Funeral of the late leader.

PM Modi’s association with Abe goes back many years, having known the Japanese leader since his long stint as the Gujarat Chief Minister.

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