New Delhi, December 26, 2024: Manmohan Singh, India’s 13th Prime Minister and a towering figure in the country’s economic and political history, passed away today at the age of 92. He died at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi after falling ill suddenly. Attempts to revive him failed, and he was pronounced dead earlier today morning.
Born on September 26, 1932, in Gah, Punjab Province, now in Pakistan, Singh rose from humble beginnings to emerge as one of India’s most respected leaders. A world-renowned economist, he is largely credited with taking India through the most crucial phase of economic reforms in the 1990s.
Architect of Economic Reforms
Manmohan Singh’s legacy will be forever etched in his two terms as Finance Minister of India from 1991 to 1996, when the country was standing at the edge of a precipice of economic collapse. It was during his tenure that then-Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao initiated a wide-ranging liberalization package that opened up the Indian economy to the rest of the world. These reforms are credited with transforming India into one of the fastest-growing major economies.
A Decade of Leadership
Singh was Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. His leadership saw the nation undergo sweeping economic and social change. Among these was the historic Indo-U.S. Civil Nuclear Agreement in 2008, an important turning point in bilateral ties. Despite this, controversy has often marred his leadership; there was the global financial crisis in 2008, attacks on Mumbai, and lately, corruption charges against his administration.
A Life of Service and Scholarship
Manmohan Singh was an alumnus of Panjab University, St John’s College, Cambridge, and Nuffield College, Oxford. His academic excellence and skills in economics brought him various influential positions, which include Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
Tributes Flow
Condolences have continued to pour in from leaders across the world, with many portraying Singh as a visionary whose life was dedicated to progress for India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Dr. Manmohan Singh’s contributions to India will be remembered for generations. He was a statesman of unparalleled wisdom.”
He is survived by his wife, Gursharan Kaur, and three daughters. He was known as an introverted man full of humility and integrity with quiet determination and commitment toward inclusive development.
The nation mourns the passing away of a leader whose lifetime of work continues to shape modern India. Manmohan Singh, with the tributes that keep coming in, would be remembered not just as an economist and statesman but as a guiding force behind India’s ascendance in the world stage.
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