BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI:India’s Ambassador to Tajikistan Biraja Prasad, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer from Odisha, passed away at Dushanbe on Saturday morning.
Prasad, 48 years of age, is reported to have died following a cardiac arrest. He is survived by his wife and a son.
In November last year, when Prasad was posted in Tajikistan, the 1998-batch IFS officer became one of the youngest to be appointed as country’s Ambassador to any country.
The Ministry of External Affairs, which broke the news earlier in the day, expressed grief over Prasad’s untimely demise. “Our deepest condolences to the family of Biraja Prasad, our Ambassador to Tajikistan, who tragically passed away this morning,” MEA spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
“The thoughts and prayers of the Ministry and the diplomatic community are with you at this difficult time,” he said. A BTech degree holder in Electronics and Communications Engineering, Prasad was a career diplomat who served in India and abroad. Before his assignment to Tajikistan, he was the Counsellor (Political) at the Indian Embassy in Moscow.
He also had diplomatic assignments in various capacities in Russian Federation and Kazakhstan.
He also worked as Deputy Chief of Mission in Embassy of India at Madrid.
In Ministry of External Affairs, Prasad handled works related to India’s bilateral relations with Russian Federation, France, Germany, Spain, Commonwealth European Union and the CIS.
His body is expected to arrive in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.