Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark The nuclear agreement With us, he died. He was 92 years old.
The hospital said in a statement that Singh was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi late Thursday after his health condition deteriorated due to a “sudden loss of consciousness at home.”
The hospital said: “Resuscitation measures were initiated immediately at home. He was transferred to the emergency medical department” at 8:06 p.m., but “despite all efforts, he could not be revived and he was pronounced dead at 9:51 p.m.”
The statement said Singh was receiving treatment for “age-related medical conditions.”
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers for a decade and leader of the Congress party in the upper house of Parliament, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen The role was filled in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
But his stellar image was tainted by corruption allegations against his ministers.
Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term as Prime Minister was marred by financial scandals and accusations of corruption over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to a crushing defeat for the Congress Party in the 2014 national elections at the hands of Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Singh stayed away from the limelight after relinquishing the post of Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Modi, who succeeded Singh in 2014, described him as one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” who rose from humble origins and left a “strong imprint on our economic policy over the years”.
“As our Prime Minister, he has made extensive efforts to improve the lives of people,” Modi said in a post on social platform X. He described Singh’s interventions in Parliament as a legislator as “insightful” and said his “wisdom and humility were always evident”. “
Rahul Gandhi, from the same party as Singh and leader of the opposition in the lower house of India’s parliament, said Singh’s “deep understanding of economics inspired the nation” and that he “led India with tremendous wisdom and integrity.”
“I have lost a guide and mentor. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the utmost pride,” Gandhi wrote on X.
The United States offered its condolences, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying Singh was “one of the greatest champions of the US-India strategic partnership.”
“We mourn the passing of Dr. Singh and will always remember his dedication to bringing the United States and India closer together,” Blinken said.
Born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India, Singh’s brilliant academic career took him to the University of Cambridge in Britain, where he earned a degree in economics in 1957. He later earned a doctorate in economics from Nuffield University. College at Oxford University in 1962.
Singh taught at the University of the Punjab and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics before joining the Indian government in 1971 as economic advisor in the Ministry of Commerce. In 1982, he became chief economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission and Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that opened up the economy and moved India away from a socialist economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, averting a potential economic crisis.
His awards include the 1987 Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour; Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award from the Indian Science Congress in 1995; and the Asia Finance Minister of the Year Award in 1993 and 1994.
Singh was a member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament and was the leader of the opposition from 1998 to 2004 before he was appointed Prime Minister. He was the first Sikh to hold the country’s highest office and made a public apology in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh massacre in which about 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards.
Under Singh, India adopted the Right to Information Act in 2005 to enhance accountability and transparency on the part of government officials and bureaucrats. He was also instrumental in implementing the welfare system that guaranteed at least 100 days of paid work to rural Indian citizens.
The coalition government he headed for a decade brought together politicians and parties with different ideologies that were competing in various states of the country.
In a move considered one of his biggest achievements alongside economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing an agreement with the United States that gave India access to American nuclear technology.
But the agreement hit his government hard, with communist allies withdrawing their support and criticism of the agreement growing inside India in 2008 when it was finalized.
Singh adopted a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, continuing the peace process with his nuclear rival and neighbor Pakistan. But his efforts suffered a major setback after Pakistani militants carried out a major weapons and bomb attack in Mumbai in November 2008.
He also tried to end the border dispute with China, brokering a deal to reopen the Nathu La crossing into Tibet, which had been closed for more than forty years.
His 1965 book, Indian Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustainable Growth, dealt with India’s inward-oriented trade policy.
Singh is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters.
____
Associated Press writer Sheikh Saliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.
