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Tributes continue to pour in for former prime minister Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh opened India to the world as finance minister in the 1990s and helmed the US nuclear deal and a series of key legislation as the two-term prime minister from 2004-2014
Tributes continued to pour in for former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who died of age-related illnesses in New Delhi at 92 on Thursday. Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said India has lost one of its tallest leaders and finest economists. “His most defining contribution — the epochal 91 reforms spurred a multi-decadal economic boom and more importantly reshaped the calculus of possibilities for India and Indians.”
Birla said over several decades in public life, Singh’s intellect, wisdom, and humility stood as exemplars, leaving an indelible mark on the nation’s conscience. “His extraordinary rise from humble beginnings to the Prime Minister’s office epitomises the boundless potential of India and serves as an inspiration for generations of Indians.”
The United States-India Business Council president ambassador (retired) Atul Keshap said Singh played a key role in elevating US-India ties, modernising the relationship, and embarking both democracies on a steady path of strategic, economic, and technological convergence. “Through his sustained leadership in achieving the transformative agreement on civilian nuclear energy cooperation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was rightly regarded as an architect of the modern bilateral relationship, and he will be remembered by many in America with honour and fondness for his gentle and clear leadership,” said Keshap.
Singh opened India to the world as finance minister in the 1990s and helmed the US nuclear deal and a series of key legislation as the two-term prime minister from 2004-2014. He stood his ground to ink the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in 2008, forging a closer relationship between the two countries. He won praise globally for his handling of the 2008 global financial crisis.
Former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi in his tribute said: “Decency shrivels, civility withers in Indian politics as the gentle chapter-turner crosses over.”
P K Mishra, the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, said India has lost a very distinguished leader, an eminent economist, and a great human being. He said his memories of Singh date back to when the latter taught at the Delhi School of Economics. “I was in my MA, first year those days. Seeing him among the stalwart professors in that era was reassuring for a student like me having come from Sambalpur district in Western Odisha. Those were the days when very eminent professors such as Amartya Sen, Mrinal Datta Chaudhuri, A M Khusro, K N Raj, Sukhamoy Chakraborty, Dharma Kumar and others were teaching there.”
He said Singh had a remarkable ability to explain complex topics in international trade in a way every student could understand, making learning easier. “He was extremely unassuming and low profile. Later I had the privilege of interacting with him when working as Secretary to the National Disaster Management Authority and Secretary to [the] Government of India in the Ministry of Agriculture during his tenure as Prime Minister. Whenever I met him, I found the same simplicity, sincerity, and humility in his demeanour,” he said.
Singh, who was revered globally for his academic acumen, instituted social protection schemes as the prime minister, boosting rural wages. Born on September 26, 1932, in what is now Pakistan’s Punjab province, he graduated from Panjab University, and the University of Cambridge, where he earned a degree in economics. He secured D Phil at Oxford.
In 1971, Singh became the economic adviser in the commerce ministry. He was appointed as the chief economic adviser in the Union finance ministry in 1972. Singh served as the 15th RBI governor (1982-1985). In 1991, Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao appointed Singh as the finance minister.
