Former Indian Ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra passes away

Former Indian Ambassador to the United States Naresh Chandra died at a private hospital in Goa on Sunday night due to multiple organ failure.

He was 82.

“He was admitted to the hospital on Friday evening with complaints of fever and with myalgia (muscle pain) since three days followed with multiple episodes of vomiting and loose stools from the afternoon onwards,” said Shekhar Salkar, chief of clinical services at ManipalHospital, Goa.

Chandra was then shifted to the Intensive Care Unit where he suffered from a cardiac arrest at 10.15 pm on Friday, he said.

“On admission, his blood pressure and oxygenation was low,” Salkar said.

READ: Naresh Chandra's 2002 interview with Rediff.com

The doctors were able to revive Chandra from the cardiac arrest but his organs had started failing, he said.

“On July 09 at 10.05 pm, he suffered another cardiac arrest… Despite all the efforts the patient could not be revived and he was declared dead at 10.40 pm,” Salkar said.

Chandra had served as the Cabinet Secretary from 1990–92 and was the Indian Ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001. He was conferred with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civil honour, in 2007.

The hospital sources said that Chandra’s body has been preserved in the morgue and his family members have been informed. The body would be flown to Delhi for the final rites.