 He was instrumental in getting both the Prime Ministers and governments of Malaysia and India to give their nod for his pet project which offers a twinning medical programme between both countries.His main purpose of setting up the medical college was to provide high quality medical education opportunities to Malaysians at an affordable price, particularly for Malaysians of Indian ethnicity.Datuk K. Pathmanaban died due to kidney and liver failure at the Pantai Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur at around 1am on 9 June 2001.