Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India, dies at the age of 92

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark nuclear agreement with the United States, it is dead. He was 92 years old.

Singh was admitted to the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Thursday afternoon after his health deteriorated due to a “sudden loss of consciousness at home”, the hospital said in a statement.

“Reanimation measures were started immediately at home. He was transferred to Medical Emergencies” at 8:06 p.m., the hospital reported, but “despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was pronounced dead at at 21.51 hours”.

Singh was being treated for “age-related medical conditions,” the statement said.

Singh became a soft-spoken technocrat Oldest Prime Ministers of India for 10 years and leader of the Congress Party in the Upper House of Parliament, gaining a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to fill the role in 2004 of Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

But his excellent image was tarnished by allegations of corruption against his ministers.

Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term as prime minister was marred by financial scandals and corruption charges over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress Party’s crushing defeat in the national elections of 2014 by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi.

Singh adopted a low profile after stepping down as prime minister.

Prime Minister Modiwho succeeded Singh in 2014, called him 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 Prime Minister, he made great efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on social platform X. He called Singh’s speeches in Parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said that ” his wisdom and humility were always visible.” “

Rahul Gandhi, from Singh’s same party and leader of the opposition in India’s lower house of parliament, said Singh’s “deep understanding of the economy inspired the nation” and that he “led India with a immense wisdom and integrity.”

“I have lost a mentor and a guide. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the utmost pride,” Gandhi wrote to X.

The United States offered its condolences, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that Singh was “one of the strongest advocates of the US-India strategic partnership”.

“We mourn Dr. Singh’s passing 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 led him to Cambridge University in Britain, where he graduated with a degree in economics in 1957. He then in economics from Nuffield. College at the University of Oxford in 1962.

Singh taught at Panjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics before joining the Indian government in 1971 as an economic adviser to the Ministry of Commerce. In 1982 he became chief economic adviser 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 pattern economy and towards a capitalist model in the face of a large balance of payments deficit, avoiding a possible economic crisis.

His accolades include the 1987 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second highest civilian honor; the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress in 1995; and the Asia Money Finance Minister of the Year Award in 1993 and 1994.

Singh was a member of the Upper House of the Parliament of India and was the Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2004 before being appointed Prime Minister. He was the first Sikh to hold the country’s top office and publicly apologized in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh massacre in which around 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards.

Under Singh, India adopted a Right to Information Act in 2005 to promote accountability and transparency of government officials and bureaucrats. He was also instrumental in implementing a welfare scheme that guaranteed at least 100 days of paid work for rural Indian citizens.

The coalition government he led for a decade brought together politicians and parties with different ideologies that were rivals in the different states of the country.

In a move hailed as one of his greatest achievements, apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing an agreement with the United States that gave India access. American nuclear technology.

But the deal backfired on his government, with communist allies withdrawing support and criticism of the deal that grew in India in 2008, when it ended.

Singh took a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, pursuing a peace process with a nuclear rival and a neighbor Pakistan. But their efforts suffered a major setback after Pakistani militants carried out a massive gun and bomb attack in Mumbai in November 2008.

He also tried to end the border dispute with China, negotiating a deal to reopen the Nathu La Pass in Tibet, which had been closed for more than 40 years.

His 1965 book, India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Stained Growth, dealt with India’s inward-looking trade policy.

Singh is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters.

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Associated Press writer Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.