Veteran Communist leader and former World Peace Council president Romesh Chandra passed away on Monday in Mumbai, the CPI said in a statement.
Ex-member of national executive of the CPI, Chandra died at around 3 pm in the Maharashtra capital due to old age, party leaders said. He was 94.
“Chandra was witness to the historic peace movement, to which he made hefty contributions. His demise is a big loss,” CPI Maharashtra secretary Bhalchandra Kango said.
According to the left party's statement, Chandra had taken part in freedom struggle as a student leader and later joined CPI and went on to become its national executive.
Chandra, who joined the Council headquarters in Helsinki as its president and played a role during cold war era, had addressed United Nations' General Assembly as peace body's leader many times.
A recipient of lenin Peace Award, Chandra had also worked as the editor of CPI's central organ New Age.
“The Central Secretariat of the CPI pays its respectful homage to one of its prominent leaders and sends party's condolences to the bereaved family,” the CPI said in a statement.