The passing away of Jawaharlal Nehru, following a heart attack, came as a shock to India and to the entire non-aligned world which had come to rely on his wise counsel and guidance. Mrs Bandaranaike, having associated with him during her own tenure with wide ranging relations built through bilateral ties, the NAM and the Commonwealth, had first come to know the Nehru family during the premiership of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Attending the funeral in New Delhi, she joined the British Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Soviet Vice-Premier Alexei Kosygin.