India has lost a valued friend: PM Modi on demise of Sushil Koirala

Koirala was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and passed away due to Pneumonia at his residence Tuesday morning. He was 79.

Koirala, who was elected Prime Minister of Nepal on February 10, 2014, died at his residence in Maharajgunj in the outskirt of capital Kathmandu at 12.50 a.m. (local time), Nepali Congress general secretary Prakash Man Singh said.

His body will be taken to party’s central office at sanepa, Kathmandu and kept there for last tributes from party cadres and others, Singh said.

Born in Banaras, India, Koirala entered politics in 1954 and was in political exile in India for 16 years following the royal takeover of 1960.

He also spent three years in Indian prisons for his involvement in a plane hijacking in 1973.

Former Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala passes away

Koirala, who was elected Prime Minister of Nepal on February 10, 2014, resigned as PM in October last year after parties failed to forge a consensus amid continued protests and blockade of a key border trade point with India over the country's new Constitution.

Born on 12 August 1939 in Banaras, India, Koirala was the cousin of former PMs Matrika Prasad Koirala, Girija Prasad Koirala and Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala.

He entered politics in 1954 and was in political exile in India for 16 years following the royal takeover of 1960. Koirala also spent three years in Indian prisons for his involvement in a plane hijacking in 1973.