Japan parliament foramally elects Yoshihide Suga new prime minister

PM Narendra Modi congratulated Japan’s Yoshihide Suga on being elected Japan's new prime minister by parliament’s lower house on Wednesday. India's PM wrote he looks forward to jointly taking the Indo-Japan special strategic and global Partnership to new heights.

Suga succeeded country’s longest-serving premier Shinzo Abe, becoming the country’s first new leader in nearly eight years.

Suga is expected to keep about half of predecessor Shinzo Abe’s lineup. He is pledged to pursue many of Abe’s programs, including his signature “Abenomics” economic strategy.

Suga had served under him in the pivotal post of chief cabinet secretary Abe, who stepped down because of ill health.