Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely considered the architect of India’s economic reform program and a milestone nuclear agreement with the United States, died. He was 92 years old.
Singh was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi on Thursday evening after his health deteriorated due to “sudden loss of consciousness at home”, the hospital said in a statement .
“Resuscitation measures were immediately put in place at home. He was transported to the medical emergency room” at 8:06 p.m., the hospital said, but “despite all efforts, he could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at 9:51 p.m.
Singh was being treated for “age-related medical issues,” the statement said.
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A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of the Longest serving Indian prime ministers for 10 years and leader of the Congress Party in the Upper House of Parliament, building a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was chosen to fill the role in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
But his good image has been tarnished by allegations of corruption against his ministers.
Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term as prime minister was clouded by financial scandals and accusations of corruption linked to the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the crushing defeat of the Congress Party in the 2014 national elections against the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
Singh adopted a low profile after giving up the prime minister’s post.
Prime Minister Modiwho succeeded Singh in 2014, called him one of India’s “most eminent leaders” who came from humble origins and left “a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years” .
“As Prime Minister, he made tremendous efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on social platform X. He called Singh’s interventions in Parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said that “his wisdom and humility were always visible.” »
Rahul Gandhi, of the same party as Singh and leader of the opposition in the lower house of India’s Parliament, said that Singh’s “deep understanding of economics inspired the nation” and that he “led India with immense wisdom and integrity.”
“I lost a mentor and a guide. The millions of us who admired him will remember him with the greatest 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 distinguished academic career took him to Cambridge University in Britain, where he earned a degree in economics in 1957. He then obtained his doctorate in economics at Nuffield. College, 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 advisor to the Ministry of Commerce. In 1982, he became senior 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 instituted reforms in 1991 that opened the economy and moved India away from a socialist-type economy and towards a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, thereby averting a potential economic crisis.
His honors include the 1987 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second highest civilian honor; the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award from the Indian Science Congress in 1995; and the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year in 1993 and 1994.
Singh was a member of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament and Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2004 before being appointed Prime Minister. He was the first Sikh to hold the country’s highest office and publicly apologized in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh massacre in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed after the assassination of the Prime Minister of the era, Indira Gandhi, by Sikh bodyguards.
Under Singh, India passed a Right to Information Act in 2005 to promote accountability and transparency on the part of government officials and bureaucrats. He was also instrumental in implementing a welfare program guaranteeing at least 100 days of paid work for India’s rural citizens.
The coalition government he led for a decade brought together politicians and parties with different ideologies, rivals in the different states of the country.
In a move hailed as one of his greatest achievements outside of economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing a deal with the United States that gave India access to nuclear energy. American nuclear technology.
But the deal damaged his government as communist allies withdrew their support and criticism of the deal grew in India in 2008, when it was finalized.
Singh took a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, pursuing a peace process with his nuclear rival and neighbor. Pakistan. But his 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 conflict with China, brokering a deal to reopen the Nathu La pass to Tibet, closed for more than 40 years.
His 1965 book, “Trends in Indian Exports and Prospects for Self-Reliant Growth,” discussed 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.