UAE Prez Sheikh Khalifa Passes Away, India Declares State Mourning Today

India announced state mourning on Saturday following the demise of the UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

According to a communication issued by the Union Home Ministry to all states and union territories on Friday, as a mark of respect to the departed dignitary, the Government of India has decided that there will be one day's state mourning on May 14 across the country.

On the day of mourning, the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings where it is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment, the communication said.

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Sheikh Khalifa, ailing for a long time, died on Friday. He was 73. He was the eldest son of the UAE's founder President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

He served as the President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi from November 3, 2004. He was elected to succeed his father who served as the UAE's first president from 1971 until he passed away on November 2, 2004.

Khalifa, who was born in 1948, came to power in 2004 in the richest emirate Abu Dhabi and became the head of state. He is expected to be succeeded as ruler of Abu Dhabi by his half-brother Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

Mohammed bin Zayed has been the de facto ruler of the U.S.-allied UAE, particularly after Khalifa suffered a stroke in 2014, following which he has rarely been seen in public.

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