Veteran bureaucrat and former Indian ambassador to the United States, Dr Abid Hussain, died in a hotel in London on Thursday morning following a heart attack.
Hussain, a former Ambassador to the US and honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1988, was 85. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Born on December 19, 1926 in Hyderabad, he was in the Indian Administrative Service and served in various capacities including Commerce Secretary and Heavy Industries Secretary.
He became member, planning commission in 1985 and five years later, he became India's ambassador to the US.
Currently, he was the chancellor of English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad, a member of International Panel on Democracy and Development of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Professor Emeritus at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and the Foreign Service Institute of ministry of external affairs.
He was also the chairman of Ghalib Academy and vice president of Rumi Foundation. He was also a trustee of Observer Research Foundation.
He was a member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco and BP Koirala Foundation and a Trustee of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts Trust.
Hussain is also the author of 'Sino-Indian Conflict and International Politics in the Indian Sub-Continent'. His brother Irshad Panjatan is an actor and mime artist.