CHIEF MINISTER Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said she was “deeply shocked” by the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who not only cemented his country’s ties with India but also had a “special connection with Bengal.”
Abe, 67, was shot dead during a campaign for his party in Nara city in Western Japan on Friday morning.
“His dastardly assassination brings us immense pain. He not only cemented the relation between India & Japan but also had a special connection with Bengal. May the noble soul rest in peace,” Banerjee tweeted.
I am deeply shocked by the tragic demise of the former PM of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe. His dastardly assassination brings us immense pain.
He not only cemented the relation between India & Japan but also had a special connection with Bengal.
May the noble soul rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/iWTomIx4eN— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 9, 2022
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In a communiqué to Japanese Consul General in Kolkata Nakagawa Koichi, Banerjee said West Bengal has excellent trade, industrial and cultural relations with Japan, and the “relational depth was personified by the much beloved leader Shinzo Abe”.
“We, in West Bengal, have excellent trade, industrial, as well as cultural relations with Japan. Japanese public agencies like JICA and JETRO have moorings in our state as do many of your private corporate players,” Banerjee wrote in the letter to Koichi.
The Chief Minister added that “behind all these bonds lie the context of relations between Japan and West Bengal, and the relational depth was personified by the much beloved leader Mr Shinzo Abe”.
The country is observing one-day mourning on Saturday as a mark of respect to Abe.