Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot at while addressing a campaign meeting

After former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot at on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he is "deeply distressed by the attack on my dear friend".

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote, "Deeply distressed by the attack on my dear friend Abe Shinzo. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family, and the people of Japan."

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted that we was "deeply shocked by the news about former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Join so many of his friends and admirers in India in praying for him and his family".

The former Japanese Prime Minister was wounded when shots were fired at him, reportedly from behind using a handgun, during a campaign meeting in Nara.

As seen in a video, bullets were fired while Abe was giving a campaign address outside of a railway station. After the vision was momentarily blocked, security personnel could be seen grappling with a person on the ground.

Tetsuya Yamagami, a resident of Nara, was named by police as the suspected shooter. According to news reports, he had served in Japan's military.

Current Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called this incident "barbaric and malicious" and informed that doctors were trying to revive Abe.

The incident has shocked the nation, which is often thought to have relatively low rates of violent crimes; Japan alsk has among the strictest gun control regulations in the world.

Other world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, also condemned this attempted assassination.