In Varanasi, the wife of Japan's former Prime Minister said: "My husband had a deep affection for PM Modi," and CM Yogi reassured her.

At the inauguration ceremony of the Abe Memorial Corridor at the Rudraksh International Convention Center in Varanasi, Akie Abe, the wife of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, became emotional while remembering her husband. She said that her husband had a deep attachment and close relationship with Prime Minister Modi. After visiting Kashi in 2015, he would share memories of the Ganga Aarti and Varanasi with him. Since then, she had also been longing to visit Varanasi. If her husband were alive today, he would have been thrilled to see her.