Manmohan Singh, India’s former prime minister, dies at 92 | Global News Avenue

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is widely regarded as the architect and milestone of India’s economic reform program nuclear deal Like the United States, it is dead. He is 92 years old.

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

The hospital said “resuscitation measures were immediately initiated at home. He was taken to Medical Emergency at 8:06 p.m.” but “despite every effort, he could not be revived and was pronounced dead at 9:51 p.m. “

The statement said Singh was being treated for an “age-related health condition.”

Singh was a mild-mannered technocrat who became India’s longest serving Prime Minister A decade as leader of the Congress party in the upper house of parliament, he earned a reputation for personal integrity. he was chosen In 2004, Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, took over the position.

But his good image has been tarnished by corruption allegations against ministers.

Singh re-elected His second term as prime minister in 2009 was overshadowed by financial scandals and allegations of corruption in the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress party’s crushing defeat by Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 national election.

Singh has maintained a low profile since resigning as prime minister.

Prime Minister ModiThe Indian prime minister who succeeded Singh in 2014 called him one of India’s “most outstanding leaders” who came from humble beginnings and “left a deep imprint on our economic policies over the years.”

Modi posted on the social platform Wisdom and humility are always visible.”

Rahul Gandhi, who belongs to the same party as Singh and is the leader of the opposition in the lower house of India’s parliament, said that Singh’s “deep understanding of economics has inspired the entire country” and that he “leads India with tremendous wisdom and integrity.”

Gandhi wrote on X: “I have lost a mentor and guide. He will be remembered with great pride by the millions of us who admired him.”

America expresses condolences Secretary of State Antony Blinken Called Singh “one of the greatest advocates of the US-India strategic partnership.”

“We mourn the passing of Dr. Singh and will always remember his contribution to bringing the United States and India closer,” Blinken said.

Born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the undivided Indian province of Punjab, Singh’s illustrious academic career took him to Cambridge University in England, where he graduated with a degree in economics in 1957. He subsequently obtained a PhD in Economics from Nuffield University and studied at University College, Oxford in 1962.

Singh taught at Punjab 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 served as chief economic adviser to the Ministry of Finance. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission of India and Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

As finance minister, Singh implemented reforms in 1991, opened up the economy This enabled India to switch from a socialist model to a capitalist model despite a huge balance of payments deficit, thus avoiding a potential economic crisis.

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

Singh was a member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament and served as 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 to Parliament for the 1984 Sikh massacre in which then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards. The massacre resulted in the death of approximately 3,000 Sikhs.

Under Singh’s leadership, India passed the Right to Information Act in 2005 to promote accountability and transparency among government officials and bureaucrats. He was also instrumental in implementing a welfare program that guaranteed rural Indian citizens at least 100 paid working days.

He led a decade of coalition governments that brought together ideologically diverse politicians and parties who were rivals in every state in the country.

In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements besides economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing an agreement with the United States that enabled India to gain nuclear isolation. U.S. nuclear technology.

But the agreement had a detrimental impact on his government, with communist allies withdrawing support and domestic criticism of the deal growing in India after it was finalized in 2008.

Singh takes a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, pursuing a peace process with nuclear rivals and neighboring countries Pakistan. But his efforts suffered a major setback after Pakistani militants launched a massive gun and bomb attack in Mumbai in November 2008.

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

His 1965 book “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustainable Growth” discusses 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 Salik in New Delhi contributed to this report.