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Congress chief Sonia Gandhi condoled the death of Russian Ambassador Alexander Kadakin, saying that the passing away of the career diplomat was a personal loss to her. In a letter to Anatoly V Kargapolov, minister counsellor at the Russian embassy, she recalled that former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi held Kadakin in high esteem, as he dedicated his working life to furthering India-Russia ties. She wrote that Kadakin had won a lot of friends in New Delhi because of his personality.