Manmohan Singh passes away in Delhi at the age of 92.
Manmohan Singh -- former Prime Minister of India and a renowned economist who navigated the country out of its financial atrophy in the 1990s - died at 92 on Thursday. A nation remembers with admiration and respect the self-effacing technocrat with the trademark blue turban, who governed India for 10 years.
Widely perceived as a reluctant politician, Manmohan Singh was catapulted to the top post when, after an unexpected victory of the Congress-led UPA, Sonia Gandhi stepped away from the post of Prime Minister. Dr Singh's background as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor and former Finance Minister, and his unimpeachable reputation, made it an obvious decision for the then Congress president.
As finance minister in the 1990s, Manmohan Singh ushered in big bang reforms that opened up India's largely closed economy and pulled the nation out of a balance of payments crisis. His reforms paved the way for an average growth rate of around 8.5 per cent.
As he oversaw India's economic boom, Manmohan Singh also took his other big step, in foreign policy, in 2008.
The landmark India-US nuclear deal was forged in the fire of a huge political row in the country and the withdrawal of support by the left Front, which left Dr Singh's government confronting a test of strength.
The nuclear deal, which he firmly stood by, ended the era of sanctions placed on India after the Pokhran 2 nuclear tests of 1998, with partial sanctions by the nuclear watchdog IAEA that covered only the civil nuclear facilities. It also steered the country away from the Nehruvian policy of non-alignment and placed it front and centre of the international community, besides scoring the country a seat at the nuclear high table.
Dr Singh's political journey of over three decades saw his meteoric rise from a bookworm navigating post-partition India to the country's highest office.
Born in Gah in undivided Punjab (now in Pakistan) on September 26, 1932, Dr Singh moved to the holy Sikh city of Amritsar as a teenager during the Partition.
His father was a dry-fruit seller in Amritsar, and he had nine brothers and sisters. To avoid the din at home, he would study under streetlights. "Our father always used to say Manmohan will be the prime minister of India since he stuck out among the 10 children," news agency AFP quoted Dr Singh's brother Surjit Singh as saying. "He always had his nose in a book."
A brilliant student, he won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he obtained a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his PhD in the early 1960s.
In 1991, he was handpicked by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao to salvage the country's economy after having held several key posts in the government: Chief Economic Advisor, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Reserve Bank of India Governor and Union Finance Secretary.
As Prime Minister, Dr Singh steered the economy through a period of nine per cent growth and pushed through the India-US nuclear deal. The soft-spoken Prime Minister stayed firmly on course even when Left allies propping up his government refused to accept the deal.
He gained the reputation of a quiet leader with a steely resolve.
Dr Singh's second term was marred by allegations of corruption and policy paralysis.
While Dr Singh's personal honesty was never questioned, critics accused him of not doing enough to check corruption on his watch.
The other huge criticism against his government was sparked by the perception that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was the power behind the throne. This was the theme of a book that disparagingly dubbed him as the "Accidental Prime Minister".
Dr Singh, however, maintained that history would be kinder to him.
In January 2014, addressing his last press conference as Prime Minister, he said in response to NDTV's question, "I honestly believe that history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media, or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament".
Years after exiting office, Dr Singh remained a towering presence, often voicing his criticism of the government.
