Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passes away

 Friday, December 27, 2024

Islamabad (UrduPoint News Today / Pakistan Point News - 27th December, 2024 ) Former Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92 in a Delhi hospital. According to local media reports, Dr. Singh had lost consciousness at his home on Thursday evening, after which he was rushed to the hospital.

A statement from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences said that he was brought unconscious and every effort was made to revive him, but he could not be revived and he was declared dead at 9:51 pm local time.

According to reports, he was already undergoing treatment for some age-related diseases.

Tributes and condolence messages

The Congress party leadership had visited him in the hospital even before the news of his death broke, and as soon as the news of his death broke, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a statement that "Former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, who is credited with transforming his country into a global powerhouse, has passed away at the age of 92.

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Soon after the news of Dr. Singh's death broke, Modi said in a post on social media platform X, "India mourns the loss of one of its most distinguished leaders. As Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve the lives of the people."

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said in a statement, "Millions of us who admired him will remember him with immense pride.

I have lost a leader and a mentor."

Rahul Gandhi added that Manmohan Singh "led India with great wisdom and integrity."

Almost all party leaders paid tribute and condolence on his death and this trend continues at the global level as well.

Desire to see the village

Manmohan Singh was born on September 26, 1932, in a village called Gah in Punjab, which is now located in the Chakwal district of the Pakistani province of Punjab.

After the partition of India in 1947, he migrated to India.

While he was in the post of Prime Minister, there was often talk of his visiting Pakistan, Pakistan also invited him. He also expressed his desire to visit his village many times.

However, despite all these efforts, the relations and ties between the two countries continued to suffer from such rapid ups and downs that this opportunity never came.

Manmohan Singh studied economics and then got a scholarship to study at Cambridge, where he secured first position in economics and then completed his PhD in economics from Oxford.

He held several senior civil service positions and also served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and held various positions in international agencies including the United Nations.

In 2004, when the Congress Party won the general elections, he was elected as the Prime Minister and then again in 2009, thus becoming the Prime Minister twice.

However, he did not hold any government post after that.

Transformed the Indian economy

Manmohan Singh is considered the architect of economic reforms in India.

In 1991, he was given the responsibility of Finance Minister in the Congress government led by Narasimha Rao, when the country was facing a severe financial crisis. In this environment, he took steps to open the Indian economy to the rest of the world, ignoring all kinds of criticism.

The fruits of his efforts can be seen today in India, which is now one of the world's largest economies.

While prime minister, Singh also signed a historic nuclear deal with the United States, which he said would help India meet its growing energy needs.

However, his coalition government faced a serious crisis of credibility during its second term, which had been tarnished by allegations of widespread corruption, slow growth and soaring inflation.

His supporters say Singh's major achievements include lifting millions out of poverty through social programs.

Manmohan Singh has been an outspoken critic of the economic policies of current Prime Minister Modi. He also recently warned of the dangers that growing communal tensions in the country pose to Indian democracy.