Naresh Chandra, the former Indian Ambassador to the United States and a former Cabinet secretary, died in Goa on Sunday.

He was 82. A diabetic, he died of multiple organ failure and suffered a cardiac arrest. Chandra was the Indian Ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001 which was when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government conducted the Pokharan II test much to global outrage, which invited sanctions. 

Another key moment was the introduction of economic reforms by then finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh in 1991 when Chandra was cabinet secretary from 1990-1992.

A bachelor, Chandra’s body will be flown to Delhi on Monday afternoon for the final rites, the Hindu reported.