NEW DELHI, Feb 7: Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was being treated for a respiratory track infection in a New Delhi hospital’s intensive care unit, media reported on Saturday.

Mr Vajpayee, 84, was put on ventilation on Friday when doctors said his condition worsened.

He was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday after complaints of fever and chest congestion.

“Vajpayee’s condition is stable. His heart is stable but his lungs require support and that is why we are putting him on ventilation,” Dr Sampath Kumar of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences told the Press Trust of India news agency.

As prime minister, Mr Vajpayee asserted India’s role as a burgeoning power by openly testing nuclear weapons. Pakistan responded in kind, raising fears of a South Asian nuclear conflict.

India’s blasts provoked sanctions from the United States and several other nations, but the restrictions have since been lifted.—AP