World Leaders Unite to Condemn Assassination, Praise the Victim : Reaction: Britain’s Major calls India a ‘vibrant democracy’ that will survive.

World leaders united Tuesday to condemn the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose family name became synonymous with India and tragedy.

British Prime Minister John Major said the killing robbed world politics of a brave man but that Indian democracy will continue.

“There will be times when it is difficult, times when it is turbulent, but then India is a vibrant democracy and I am sure it will survive,” Major said.

Major, who escaped injury in an attack by the Irish Republican Army soon after taking office six months ago, said assassination is “a grave risk that politicians face in democracies.”

“He was a very brave man, a man of very rare qualities,” Major said of Gandhi. “He had very many friends in the Commonwealth and in this country. We will miss him a very great deal.”

India’s friends and foes alike deplored the violent manner of Gandhi’s death.

President Bush said his death was a tragic loss, adding, “I just don’t know what the world is coming to.”

Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Asia, announced Gandhi’s death on the floor of the House of Representatives, and the chamber observed a moment of silence.

President Ghulam Ishaq Khan of Pakistan, India’s traditional enemy, said India has lost “a distinguished leader with a long record of service to his nation.”

“Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms all acts of terrorism wherever they may take place,” he said in a statement.

Chief Emeka Anyaoku, secretary general of the Commonwealth, said the 50-nation association of Britain and its former colonies has suffered a “huge loss.”

“He was a man who was dedicated to the ideals of the Commonwealth and was always eager to see those ideals transformed into the code of conduct in his own country.”

India, once known as the jewel of the British empire, joined the Commonwealth at independence in 1947.

Gandhi, who came to power in 1984 after his mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her bodyguards, played a key role in improving relations with Pakistan after Benazir Bhutto became prime minister in 1988.

Several leaders feared that Gandhi’s assassination would breed further violence in India, now in the middle of an election after a campaign in which scores have been killed.

New French Prime Minister Edith Cresson expressed dismay, telling reporters: “One can now legitimately be worried about the stability of the Indian political system because India really needs stability.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger described the assassination as a blow to democracy.

“It’s a tragedy for India and a tragedy for democracy,” he said.