Singapore, March 28 (IANS) A host of world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former US president Bill Clinton, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have confirmed their presence on Sunday at the state funeral of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, media reports said.
The queue for the people to pay their last respects to the late leader had swelled at parliament house on Saturday evening and the average wait time was about eight hours, The Straits Times daily reported. Authorities said that by 6 p.m. 415,000 people had visited parliament house where Lee’s body lies in state.
The funeral procession for Lee on Sunday will cover a distance of 15.4 km and the funeral service will be held at the National University of Singapore, according to the State Funeral Organising Committee.
Among the world leaders expected to attend the funeral ceremony are Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Myanmarese President Thein Sein, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Laos Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, media reported.
The list of dignitaries also includes former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee Hwa, British First Secretary of State William Hague, Canada’s Governor General David Johnston, First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Igor Shuvalov, Bhutan King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Queen Jetsun Pema Wangchuk, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov, New Zealand’s Governor-General Jerry Mateparae, Philippines President of the Senate Franklin Drilon, and Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.