He was the “architect of India’s modernization.” Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh died on Thursday, December 26, at the age of 92.
Remaining ten years as Prime Minister in India, Manmohan Singh, credited for the economic reforms which made his country an economic power, died this Thursday, December 26 at the age of 92. The announcement was made by India’s current leader, Narendra Modi, via a post on social network X, saying that India “mourns the loss of one of its eminent leaders.”
Manmohan Singh was taken to a hospital in New Delhi the same day after losing consciousness at his home, but could not be resuscitated, according to a statement from the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences. He would have passed away in the capital, following health problems linked to his age and some heart complications.
As Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, he is credited as being the driving force behind India’s economic opening during his first term, propelling the country to become Asia’s fourth-largest economy. that slowing growth in the following years spoiled his second term. He was often referred to as the “architect of India’s modernization.”
Growth of 9% per year by India
Born in 1932 in the village of Gah, now a territory of Pakistan, Manmohan Singh had pursued higher studies in economics at Cambridge and Oxford (United Kingdom). He had never held an elected office before occupying the seat of Prime Minister.
During his first term, India’s economy grew at 9% per year, giving the country the international clout it had long needed.
Singh had also sealed a historic nuclear deal with the United States that the former prime minister said would help India meet its growing energy needs.
Unlike Narendra Modi
The politician’s image nevertheless tarnished during these two mandates and despite his undeniable contribution to the country’s economy. Indeed, he was at the center of several corruption cases.
Despite everything, Manmohan Singh had affirmed that he would be treated better by History than by his contemporaries. A virulent critic of Narendra Modi’s economic policy, he warned him of the risks that growing community tensions posed to Indian democracy.
The two men were indeed political opposites: Manmohan Singh, under the flag of the center-left UPA party, was for secularism in the country, unlike his successor Narendra Modi, of the center-right political group NDA.
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