Former Indian Ambassador to the United States, Naresh Chandra has passed away. He breathed his last at a hospital in Goa yesterday. He was 82.Chandra had served as the Cabinet Secretary from 1990-92 and was the Indian Ambassador to the US from 1996 to 2001. He was awarded the country’s second highest civil awards, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2007.Ambassador Chandra’s long official association with the United States spans more than three decades, beginning with his first visit to this country in 1963-64. He has been the Indian Co-chairman of the US-India Technology Group, and Member of the Indo-US Economic Sub-Commission, which lent him valuable insight into the broad range of Indo-US relations. Following the economic liberalisation program in India, he led the first official delegation to the US in 1992 to promote US investments in India. He has been deeply involved in several important conferences organised subsequently in the US by business development groups
