LIFE AND DEATH OF ‘SHINZO ABE’: A True Visionary

On 8^th July 2022, former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe was shot while he was addressing a gathering . The shooter was a 41 year old who had previously served in the Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force Citing dissatisfaction from the former leader.

Shinzo Abe was declared dead later due to loss of blood and in this tragic way ended the life of one of the world’s most iconic leader and a very close friend of the people of India.

• POLITICAL CAREER AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Mr Shinzo Abe was the one who redefined Japanese politics and diplomacy in the nation’s post war history and was the longest serving PM of Japan. Abe had a close friendship with India during his term in power, one that he personally engaged in. Shinzo Abe personally strengthened India’s bilateral relationship with Japan by enticing India, a previously reluctant and cautious actor in global politics, to join his vision of the Indo-Pacific.

Shinzo Abe became the first Japanese PM to visit India 3 times. Abe gave what would later be called as a seminal speech in the Indian Parliament . Quoting from the book of a Mughal prince, Dara Shikoh, he declared there was indeed ‘ a confluence of two seas’ and the pacific and Indian oceans were a dynamic coupling as seas of freedom and prosperity . This was the birth of Indo-Pacific vision as a single strategic space in which both countries had a stake which drew India into a larger cooperative partnership – THE QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialouge) that would bind it more close to not just Japan but also to USA and Australia.

Shinzo Abe also managed to forge friendships with the 2 vastly different Indian PM’s who served during his term. Manmohan Singh, a staunch economist from Congress party who invited Abe to preside over India’s Republic day celebrations in 2014. But more surprisingly perhaps, he became fast friends with Narendra Modi, a man with a polar opposite personality, Leadership style and politics than singh. Upon Abe’s death Modi emotionally wrote that he had lost a dear friend with whom he had a personal bond.

When people study International Relations they often debate whether leaders truly have impact upon Inter-Country ties, or whether Inter-Country ties are forged by external circumstances superfluous to any single leader. In the case of Shinzo Abe the evidence that he personally played a role in strengthening the Indo-Japan relations is strong. He was indeed as PM Modi wrote “a champion of India-Japan friendship”. Shinzo Abe’s absence will be missed in India, but he has left a legacy that will long endure and impact the future of India-Japan relations. India must continue to wholeheartedly embrace Abe’s vision of Broader Asia and Free and Open Indo-Pacific.

THE WAY FORWARD

The Japanese politics is in a confusing state right now as Japan has had Yoshihide Suga the right hand man of Shinzo Abe as the prime minister and now there is Fumio Kishida leading Japan. Many believe that Japan may head towards a right wing policy and militarize rapidly on-looking the Article 9 of Japan’s constitution which has always prevented Japan from developing or using offensive military weapons.

Also Japan under their new leadership will focus more on continuity than change , Abe was a statesman and his ultimate goal was to see a stronger Japan thereby reducing it’s dependence on United States or other western nation’s in every aspect.

It would be too early to predict the exact change with the current and future PM’s of Japan . But it is for sure confirmed that Shinzo Abe’s vision and his legacy will continue to steer and shape Japanese government and their policies.