Jaipur: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday expressed grief over the demise of Sunanda Pushkar, the wife of Union Minister Shahsi Tharoor.
"Its a personal loss to him (Tharoor) and to all of us. The kind of vivaciousness, life and energy she exuded was infectious from what I know of her as a friend its going to be very deep loss to overcome. "I can only wish my friends Shashi strength in this terrible moment. I pray that this kind of thing never happen to anybody you care for," Khurshid who was here to attend the Jaipur literature festival told reporters.

Echoing his sentiments, his wife, Louise Khurshid said," I am absolutely shocked. Shashi was supposed to launch my book.

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"Sunanda should have been here and I am shocked because I knew she was a brave lady, she was courageous who would stand for her rights, she doesn`t seem to be a person who would take her life. I hope its not the result." Also present at the festival was politician Amar Singh.

"I strongly condole the death of Sunanda. My heart goes out to her and Shahsi," he said.

Union minister Shashi Tharoor, who was slated to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival today, did not attend the event following his wife`s death.

Pushkar, who was upset over an alleged extra-marital affair between Tharoor and a Pakistani journalist, was found dead in a room in the Leela Palace hotel yesterday.
"It is sad but Tharoor won`t be able to attend the festival today," Festival producer Sanjay Roy said earlier today.

Tharoor was scheduled to participate in a session titled `The paradoxes of development and growth` under the ongoing `Democracy dialogues` series at the festival.

He was to also launch a book titled `Travails with Chachi` written by Khurshid`s wife, Louis Khurshid.

Tharoor was also slated to inaugurate the prize ceremony for the USD 50,000 DSC prize for South Asian Literature.