New Delhi: Senior journalist and author Kuldeep Nayyar, widely respected for his columns and reportage, died at a Delhi hospital early this morning, his family said. He was 95.

Born at Sialkot (now in Pakistan), he graduated with a law degree from Lahore before moving to India after Partition. He served as High Commissioner to Britain in 1990 and was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

Nayyar is survived by his wife and two sons. He will be cremated today at Lodhi crematorium in South Delhi.

In his autobiography published in 2012, he wrote about the collapse of trust between communities after the Partition and how he was forced to migrate to Delhi across the blood-stained plains of Punjab. “From his perilous journey to a new country and to his first job as a young journalist in an Urdu daily, Nayyar’s account is also the story of India,” the introduction to the book reads.

From a young journalist in Anjam, he went on to head the news agency, UNI. His syndicated column, “Between the Lines”, was appreciated for how he always stood for the Freedom  of the Press.