Prime Minister Narendra Modi today surprised everyone at a press interaction after the 16th India-Japan annual summit when he referred to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as “little sister.”
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While many thought it was a sign of PM Modi venting his emotions, something that he rarely does, the real reason lay in the restricted conversation that took place between PM Modi and PM Takaichi at Hyderabad House.
According to officials privy to conversations, PM Takaichi told her Indian counterpart that late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was like her elder brother and she looked up to him. Apparently PM Takaichi said that since Abe San had a lot of affection and respect for PM Modi, she now looked towards him as her elder brother too.
PM Modi had close personal relations with PM Abe, who was assassinated on July 8, 2022 by a radical in Nara, the constituency of PM Sanae Takaichi. The India-Japan ties took off to a new level under the leadership of Abe San, who was the longest serving prime minister in Japanese history. PM Modi specially flew to Tokyo on September 27, 2022 to attend the state funeral accorded to Shinzo Abe and held a condolence meeting with the late leader’s wife Akie Abe.
Given PM Modi and PM Takaichi’s respect for the departed leader, PM Modi took on the role of elder brother and called the visiting leader as his little sister.
On her part, PM Takaichi openly embraced the sibling bond by thanking PM Modi for calling her his “beautiful younger sister” and stated that the two leaders were on the same page with the bond reflecting the understanding the two leaders had reached during their private discussions.
