Five-day state mourning for Nelson Mandela in India

New Delhi: India will observe five-day state mourning as a mark of respect for Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday.

The government today said the national flag would fly at half-mast till Tuesday.

Both houses of Parliament were adjourned today after tributes to Mr Mandela, a rare gesture for a foreign national.  

In the words of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, "A giant among men has passed away. This is as much India's loss as South Africa's." (Read)

Mr Mandela was only the second non-Indian to be given the Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award. His connection with India was deep. (See pics: Nelson Mandela's India connect)

Within months of being released from 27 years of imprisonment in 1990, Mr Mandela picked India as his first destination abroad. (Nelson Mandela: Of the people, for the people)

An avowed Gandhian, on a visit in 1995, Mr Mandela said in Ahmedabad, "I could never reach the standard of morality, simplicity and love for the poor set by the Mahatma...While Gandhi was a human without weaknesses, I am a man of many weaknesses." (Did you know this about Mandela?)

In 2001, Mr Mandela was given the International Gandhi Peace Price for his "exemplary work for promotion of peace and non-violence" by the Indian government.

In 2004, he met Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam in Johannesburg. Mr Kalam visited the cell where Mr. Mandela had been imprisoned and said it was the "best part of his visit to South Africa."

Mr Mandela met the Indian cricket team led by another Bharat Ratna, Sachin Tendulkar, in South Africa in January 1997 during the Cape Town Test. The lunch break was lengthened by 15 minutes when Mr Mandela, having met the teams, made an impromptu address live on TV.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan has recalled his meetings with Mr Mandela. "I had the greatest honor to meet and spend time with him on two occasions ! His humility his greatest asset, among countless others," he tweeted today.

A number of South Africans of Indian origin fought against apartheid alongside Mr Mandela and were jailed with him. When he became President of South Africa in 1994, he inducted into his cabinet six people of Indian origin.