Odia IFS, envoy in Tajikistan, passes away

Bhubaneswar: Odia Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and Ambassador to the Republic of Tajikistan Biraja Prasad has passed away at Tajikistan.

He died of cardiac arrest, according to sources.

Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson, Vikas Swarup, confirmed the news on Twitter.

"Our deepest condolences to family of Amb Biraja Prasad, our Ambassador to Tajikistan who tragically passed away this morning. The thoughts and prayers of the Ministry and the diplomatic community are with you at this difficult time," Swarup said in a series of tweets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee have expressed their deep condolence over the sad demise of Prasad.

Biraja Prasad, a 1998 batch IFS officer from Odisha, was also the Counsellor (Political) at the Indian Embassy in Moscow, Prasad has had diplomatic assignments in various capacities in Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Spain.

He also worked as Deputy Chief of Mission in Embassy of India at Madrid. In Ministry of External Affairs, Prasad handled work related to India’s bilateral relations with Russian Federation, France, Germany and Spain. Prasad is the youngest IFS officer to be appointed India’s Ambassador to any country.