Naresh Chandra, India's former ambassador to US, dies at 82 in Goa

Former Indian Ambassador to the US Naresh Chandra died at a private hospital in Goa last 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) for three days followed with multiple episodes of vomiting and loose stools from the afternoon onwards," Shekhar Salkar, chief of clinical services at Manipal Hospital, Goa told PTI.

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

"On admission, his blood pressure and oxygenation were low", Salkar said.

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

"On July 9 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.

 Hospital sources said that Chandra's body had been preserved in the morgue and his family members had been informed. The body would be flown to Delhi for the final rites.