From India, with love: Modi gifts Shinzo Abe marble statute of Three Wise Monkeys on Day 1 Japan PM's visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today welcomed his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and took him on a cultural tour of Ahmedabad, where the two will lay the foundation stone of the ambitious bullet train project on Thursday.

IndiaToday.in  | Written by Dev Goswami
New Delhi, September 13, 2017 | UPDATED 23:32 IST
PM Modi gifted Japanese PM Shizo Abe a marble replica of the Three Wise MonkeysPM Modi gifted Japanese PM Shizo Abe a marble replica of the Three Wise Monkeys

Highlights

  • 1
    Japan PM Abe arrived in India today on a two-day trip.
  • 2
    Abe and Modi will hold high-level talks on Thursday.
  • 3
    The two will also lay the foundation stone of the bullet train project.

A Japanese prime minister. The land of the Mahatma. And a gift that connects the two.

Indian diplomacy was on point Wednesday when Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan, arrived in Ahmedabad on a two-day visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally greeted Abe with his trademark hug at the Sardar  Vallabhbhai Patel International.

Later, PM Modi gifted Abe a marble statute of the 'Three Wise Monkeys', a visual aphorism that has its origins in Japan. The Three Wise Monkeys visualise the proverb, 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.'

Mahatma Gandhi, who famously owned few worldly possessions, kept a statute of the Three Wise Monkeys with him. A replica is now installed at the Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's former home and now a museum to his life.

PMs Modi and Abe visited the ashram on the Sabarmati riverfront, before heading to the Sidi Saiyyad Mosque, located in old Ahmedabad. Before their stops at the two iconic buildings, Modi and Abe also held an eight-kilometer road show.

(PM Modi shared a video of the road show on Twitter)

Abe changed into a kurta and a blue vest before clambering onto a Gypsy with PM Modi. The two leaders, along with the Japenese First Lady Akie Abe, then drove to the Sabarmati Ashram, where the two Japnese dignitaries paid homage to Mahatama Gandhi.

PM Modi then took his Japanese counterpart to the Sidi Saiyyed mosque, a 16th-century mosque known for its intricate architecture. The two leaders ended their day with a traditional Gujarati dinner.

On Thursday, Abe and Modi will get down to business, with the most high-profile event being ground breaking ceremony of the ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.

Modi and Abe will then hold the 12th annual bilateral Indo-Japanese summit where they are expected to hold high-level talks and sign a number of agreements. This will be the fourth annual summit between Modi and Abe.

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