<p>New Delhi: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/congress">Congress</a> leaders on Sunday condoled former external affairs minister K <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/natwar-singh">Natwar Singh</a>'s demise with party chief <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/mallikarjun-kharge">Mallikarjun Kharge</a> hailing his profound contribution to India's diplomacy and external affairs.</p>.<p>Singh passed away on Saturday night after a prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 93.</p>.<p>He breathed his last at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram near Delhi, where he had been admitted for the past couple of weeks, they said.</p>.<p>"Our deepest condolences on the passing away of Former Union Minister, Shri K. Natwar Singh ji. An acclaimed intellectual and a Padma Bhushan recipient, he made a profound contribution to India's diplomacy and external affairs," Kharge said in a post on X.</p>.<p>"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and followers," he said.</p>.<p>Congress general secretary in-charge communications <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/jairam-ramesh">Jairam Ramesh</a> said, "A hugely engaging political personality. A distinguished foreign service officer. A cultured man of letters and noted author with a few classics to his credit. A walking encyclopedia of the worlds of Nehru and Indira Gandhi. A delightful conversationalist, storyteller and ready wit." </p>.<p>"A man whose correspondence with varied men and women are the stuff of history. A wonderful and generous friend with his hospitality and his ever-sharp memory and his deep archive. Natwar Singh was all this and much more," Ramesh said.</p>.<p>"He has just passed away after leading a full and richly variegated life. He was truly someone who has left behind his 'footprints on the sands of time'," he said on X.</p>.<p>Singh was a career diplomat, who brought a wealth of experience in diplomacy to his political career and a prolific author on subjects ranging from the life of a maharaja to nuances of foreign affairs.</p>.<p>Singh, who served as the external affairs minister during the UPA-I period, had quit the Congress after his fallout with the party's top leadership over the "oil-for-food scam" came out in the open.</p>
<p>New Delhi: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/congress">Congress</a> leaders on Sunday condoled former external affairs minister K <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/natwar-singh">Natwar Singh</a>'s demise with party chief <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/mallikarjun-kharge">Mallikarjun Kharge</a> hailing his profound contribution to India's diplomacy and external affairs.</p>.<p>Singh passed away on Saturday night after a prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 93.</p>.<p>He breathed his last at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram near Delhi, where he had been admitted for the past couple of weeks, they said.</p>.<p>"Our deepest condolences on the passing away of Former Union Minister, Shri K. Natwar Singh ji. An acclaimed intellectual and a Padma Bhushan recipient, he made a profound contribution to India's diplomacy and external affairs," Kharge said in a post on X.</p>.<p>"Our thoughts are with his family, friends and followers," he said.</p>.<p>Congress general secretary in-charge communications <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/jairam-ramesh">Jairam Ramesh</a> said, "A hugely engaging political personality. A distinguished foreign service officer. A cultured man of letters and noted author with a few classics to his credit. A walking encyclopedia of the worlds of Nehru and Indira Gandhi. A delightful conversationalist, storyteller and ready wit." </p>.<p>"A man whose correspondence with varied men and women are the stuff of history. A wonderful and generous friend with his hospitality and his ever-sharp memory and his deep archive. Natwar Singh was all this and much more," Ramesh said.</p>.<p>"He has just passed away after leading a full and richly variegated life. He was truly someone who has left behind his 'footprints on the sands of time'," he said on X.</p>.<p>Singh was a career diplomat, who brought a wealth of experience in diplomacy to his political career and a prolific author on subjects ranging from the life of a maharaja to nuances of foreign affairs.</p>.<p>Singh, who served as the external affairs minister during the UPA-I period, had quit the Congress after his fallout with the party's top leadership over the "oil-for-food scam" came out in the open.</p>