Former external affairs minister Swaraj died of cardiac arrest last year at the age of 67.

Hours before she died, Swaraj had tweeted praising the decision of the Modi government to abrogate Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. "Remembering Sushma Ji on her first Punya Tithi (death anniversary). Her untimely and unfortunate demise left many saddened," the prime minister tweeted.

She served India selflessly and was an articulate voice for India at the world stage, Modi recalled. He also shared a video of the remarks he had made at a prayer meeting organised in Swaraj's memory last year.

Referring to Swaraj's prompt response to Indians facing problems abroad, he had said she transformed the Ministry of External Affairs. It used to be bound to protocol but she transformed it and made it oriented to people's call, he said.

Various Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, led by party chief JP Nadda, also paid tributes to Swaraj.