Abe-San, till we meet again!

Shinzo Abe was the longest-serving Prime Minister that Japan has had and staying true to his legacy, Abe-san left a great impact on domestic politics, regional politics and world affairs. When Shinzo Abe assumed leadership in 2006, it faced several issues like economic disruptions in Japan as Japan had already been facing several bubble bursts and these were followed by repeated disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. The task at hand for Shinzo Abe was a tough one, but he braved it all.

Former Prime Minister Abe can be called a leader with guts as most leaders before him stepped down after seeing the mountain of work and the challenges that they faced. This attitude and grit spoke highly about Abe-san. He changed the way the world looked at Japan in the 2000s and he was able to reinstate Japan as an important global power. Prime Minister Abe reinvented the wheel of diplomacy for Japan as he focused on Golf Diplomacy and worked on building a special rapport with global leaders. One such special relationship that Prime Minister Abe had was with Prime Minister Modi. The bonhomie between the two leaders was something extremely special and this specialness reflected in the strengthening of India-Japan relations.

Talking of diplomacy, Shinzo Abe was a master of statecraft man as he knew what was the need of the hour. He not only worked on strengthening Japan’s diplomacy but he had a keen eye for developing Japanese foreign policy and diplomacy from a panoramic view which made Japan, the most sort after partnering in global affairs. He further pioneered the way for the Indo-Pacific vision which today is the most sort after global policy and most countries have adopted their very own version of the Indo-Pacific strategy. He also was the architect of the QUAD and today, the QUAD stands on a stronger footing than most of the regional and global groupings and institutions.

Today, Japan can defend itself and has been able to strengthen itself as Abe-san worked on strengthening the Self-Defence Forces and fought for the constitutional amendment to Article 9 of the post-war Japanese Constitution upholding Pacifism. He also helped tackle multiple island issues with China, Russia and other countries and gave these countries a befitting reply, by not just protecting Japan’s sovereignty but also territorial integrity. Former Prime Minister Abe was a fearless man, as, since 2012, he spoke directly about China as a threat to Japan. Later, in 2019, the Japanese Defence White Papers resonated with the same thought and also highlighted China’s growing belligerence globally.

Economically, Japan was facing several economic issues and to tackle those, Abe-san released three economic policies like monetary and fiscal stimulus and economic reforms which were later called Abenomics. Though these policies weren’t received that well, they did keep Japan afloat. Abenomics also worked on Womenomics as Abe-san thought that the female labour force would yet again take Japan to its glorious days of economic growth in 1960s.

In the domain of nuclear security, Abe-san was able to maintain Japan’s position of not being a nuclear power when all the countries are working on strengthening their nuclear stockpile. During the leadership of President Trump, he suggested that Japan must go nuclear and Prime Minister Abe tackled this scenario rather well by still maintaining Japan’s stance of being non-nuclear.

Educationally, Former Prime Minister Abe launched the JENESYS programme in 2007 and this gave students from the world over to travel to Japan for a 10-day trip and experience Japan’s history, culture, education system and work on student-to-student exchange programmes. This programme was a great success as this also promoted Japan’s soft power culture and this helped attract more students to pursue their higher studies in Japan.

Culturally, Abe-san was greatly involved in people-to-people connections and emphasised that these bonds must be stronger than ever. Infrastructurally too, Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was instrumental in developing high-technological and advanced infrastructural projects in many countries, especially in South Asia like India and Southeast Asia. Very few know that Abe-san was a great practitioner of meditation and regularly practised Sudarshan kriya.

Today, as we remember Abe-san, we should remember him for the multiple hats he wore as a son, husband, global leader, friend, philosopher and guide. They say great men never die; they leave behind a legacy. Shinzo Abe has left behind a legacy worthy to be remembered forever.

Abe-san, you live forever and always in our hearts. Till we meet again! ( ???)

Pic Courtsey-NDTV.com

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)