Former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday will be given a state funeral.

Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds confirms this.

Mr. Panday, who served as the country’s fifth Prime Minister, and had a long-illustrious public career, was 90 years old at the time of his death.

He died at a hospital in Jacksonville Florida on Monday, where he had been seeking medical care.

The Panday family has accepted the government of Trinidad and Tobago’s offer of a state funeral, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley confirmed yesterday.

It will be the first state funeral conducted under Hindu rites.

Mr. Panday was the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister.

The last state funeral was that of former Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, which was done under Anglican rites.

The body of Panday, who died in Florida, USA, is expected to be brought back to Trinidad tonight.

Implicit in the arrangements, for the state funeral is that the cost of this repatriation is being borne by the state.

The body normally lies in state, in a state funeral, but the Hindu tradition would have to be determined.

The venue is still being worked out and a date is still to be fixed.