Shinzo Abe assassination | Biden phones PM Kishida as Japan mourns death of former leader

A day after the murder of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a steady stream of mourners visited the scene in Nara

U. S. President Joe Biden had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and discussed how Shinzo Abe’s legacy will live on as they continue the important task of defending peace and democracy, the White House has said.

During the conversation, Mr. Biden expressed his outrage, sadness and deep condolences after former Japanese leader Abe's assassination, it said.

Mr. Abe, 67, was shot from behind in Nara in western Japan while giving a campaign speech. Police have arrested a Nara resident in his 40s, who allegedly used a handmade gun to shoot Mr. Abe, a tragedy that has shocked Japan which has some of the strictest gun laws in the world.

“The President underscored that he and the American people stand with the Prime Minister and the people of Japan in their time of mourning,” said a readout of the call on Friday. “The President noted the importance of Prime Minister Abe’s enduring legacy with his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and the establishment of the QUAD meetings of Japan, the United States, Australia and India.”

Mr. Abe was one of the architects of the Quad, the U. S., India, Japan and Australia alliance aimed at countering China’s growing influence and military might. The four countries had in 2017 given shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the "Quad" or the Quadrilateral coalition to counter China's aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.

Leaders of the Quad expressed shock at the assassination, saying Mr. Abe played a “formative role” in the founding of the partnership and worked tirelessly to advance a shared vision for a free and open strategically-important Indo-Pacific region.

“We, the leaders of Australia, India, and the United States, are shocked at the tragic assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” U. S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement on Friday released by the White House.