A four-member delegation from Pakistan attended last rites of former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi on Friday. The members of the delegation included caretaker law and information minister Ali Zafar, foreign office delegates Dr Muhammad Faisal, Dr Fareeha Bugti and director to Law Minister Daniyal Gilani. Other foreign dignitaries, who paid their last respects to Vajpayee at Smriti Sthal in Delhi, included Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai, Sri Lanka acting Foreign Minister Lakshman Kiriella, King of Bhutan and others. Vajpayee, who died aged 93, was cremated with full state honours at Smriti Sthal in Delhi. The former premier had battled poor health for years but his condition had deteriorated sharply in recent days, with doctors placing him on life support. He was being treated at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, where he was admitted nine weeks ago. Vajpayee, who was born in 1924 in Gwalior, was among the founding members of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). He first became the prime minister of India for only 16 days – May 16-31, 1996 – and was re-elected PM in March 1998, where he remained in office until May 13, 2004. The former Indian premier withdrew from the public eye after the BJP-led alliance suffered a shock election defeat in 2004. He had since rarely been seen or heard in public. It was widely reported that he had suffered a stroke in 2009, which had largely confined him to his New Delhi residence. Published in Daily Times, August 18th 2018.