Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose economic reforms made India a world power, died Thursday at the age of 92, current Indian leader Narendra Modi announced. Narendra Modi confirmed the death of the former prime minister with a message on the X network saying that India “mourns the loss of one of its most eminent leaders.”
Manmohan Singh was taken to a hospital in New Delhi after losing consciousness at his home on Thursday, but could not be revived, according to a statement from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Manmohan Singh, who served from 2004 to 2014, is credited with overseeing during his first term an economic boom in India, Asia's fourth-largest economy, although growth slowed in the subsequent years wasted his second term.
Surnommé «M. clean»
Born in 1932 in the village of Gah, in what is now Pakistan, Manmohan Singh studied economics at Cambridge and Oxford. He never held elected office before holding the highest office in the land.
He served as governor of the central bank and was tapped in 1991 to lead India out of the worst financial crisis in modern history. During his first term, India's economy grew 9% annually, giving the country the international clout it had long sought. He also sealed a historic nuclear deal with the United States that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs.
Known as “Mr. Clean”, Manmohan Singh nevertheless saw his image tarnished during his ten years in power after the disclosure of a series of corruption cases.
Manmohan Singh, who claimed that he would be treated better by History than by his contemporaries, had become a vocal critic of Narendra Modi's economic policy, also warning of the risks that growing communal tensions posed to democracy Indian.
