Nanda was the Interim Prime Minister of India twice for thirteen days each: the first time after the death of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, and the second time after the death of second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1966.[9] He was the Home Minister of India during both these periods, and this is the reason why he was chosen as Prime Minister. The Indian Constitution has no provision of Acting Prime Minister as is widely circulated but incorrectly. Both his terms were uneventful, yet they came at sensitive times because of the potential danger to the country following Nehru's death soon after a war with China in 1962 and Shastri's death after a war with Pakistan in 1965.[10] Nanda died on 15 January 1998 at the age of 99; from 25 November 1997 when former Malawian President Hastings Banda died, until his own death Nanda was the oldest living former State Leader.[11] At his death, Nanda was the last surviving member of the second and third Nehru cabinets and the last living state leader to have been born in the 19th century.[citation needed]