Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh breathed his last at the age of 92 on Thursday night. Singh, who was being treated for age-related ailments, was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi on Thursday after sudden loss of consciousness at home, said the hospital in its press release.
However, despite all efforts he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 pm, the bulletin stated further.
A renowned economist, Singh was the finance minister who was the architect and brainchild of the economic reforms of 1991 that saved India from the brink of bankruptcy and ushered in an era of economic liberalisation under the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao.
The former prime minister’s contribution to the country’s economy marked the headlines of major foreign media houses which covered his demise.
Country’s First Sikh PM, Introduced Free Market Reform: NYT
The US-based New York Times described Manmohan Singh as a “soft-spoken” and “cerebral” PM. The American Daily wrote that Singh was “credited with far-reaching changes that propelled his country’s emergence as an economic powerhouse able to compete with China. ”
It also noted Singh’s “trademark powder-blue turban” adding that he was the first Indian PM from the minority Sikh community.
The newspaper took a sharp take for giving only a “handful of news conferences even as the economy slowed and his government became mired in accusations of scandals.”
Architect Of Big Bang Reforms: The Guardian
The UK-based newspaper highlighted Singh’s academic brilliance stating he was “so determined to get an education he would study at night under streetlights to escape the noise in his joint-family home.”
The British daily described Singh as the “architect of the big-bang economic reforms” who “served a rare full two terms as prime minister in India’s tumultuous politics.”
Mild-Mannered Technocrat: Al Jazeera
Doha-based television network termed Singh a “mild-mannered technocrat” who became India’s longest serving prime minister and “earned a reputation as a man of great personal integrity.”
“Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister,” it wrote further.
