Manmohan Singh, India's former prime minister, dies at 92. Who was he?

Former Indian prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh died on Thursday (Dec 26) at the age of 92.

Just a few hours back, Dr Singh was hospitalised in the emergency department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the national capital.

In a statement, AIIMS announced that Singh died. "He was being treated for age-related medical conditions and had a sudden loss of consciousness at home on December 26. Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home."

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AIIMS said that Singh was brought to AIIMS at 8.06 pm IST. The hospital said that despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9.51 pm IST.

Leaders from across the political spectrum paid tributes to the stalwart leader.

Who was Manmohan Singh?

Manmohan Singh was the 14th prime minister of India. He served in the top post for 10 years, from 2004 to 2014.

Singh was born on September 26, 1932 in Punjab. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Economics from Punjab University in 1952 and 1954 respectively. He completed his Economic Tripos from Cambridge University in 1957. He followed this with a D.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University in 1962.

A look at Singh's career

Dr Singh went on to teach at Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics. He joined the Indian government as an economic adviser in the commerce ministry in 1971.

A year later, he was promoted to the chief economic adviser.

Following a short stint at UNCTAD, he was appointed the secretary-general of the South Commission in Geneva from 1987 to 1990.

Singh also held the positions of Secretary in the Finance Ministry, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Advisor to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.

His rise to prime minister's post

Following the Congress party's victories in the Lok Sabha elections of 2004 and 2009, Manmohan Singh took the office of prime minister in these two terms.

Singh became a Member of the Rajya Sabha in 1991, where he wasLeader of the Opposition from 1998-2004.

He quit the Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

Architect of economic reforms, liberalisation

Manmohan Singh is regarded as the architect of economic revival and liberalisation. As Finance Minister in 1991 during the prime ministership of PV Narasimha Rao, Singh led India’s historic economic liberalisation, opening up the country to global markets and driving rapid growth.

Then PM Rao inducted Singh into his cabinet as finance minister, and they steered the economy out of the balance of payments crisis and dwindling foreign reserves in 1991 by devaluing the currency and opening the country to global markets.

His tenure also witnessed the launch of landmark social reforms like MGNREGA and the Right to Information Act.

However, the latter part of his term was marred by corruption scandals like the 2G spectrum case and the coal block allocation controversy.

Ensured landmark Indo-US civil nuclear deal

One of the key moments of Manmohan Singh's prime ministership is the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2008. Singh showed a strong commitment to the deal despite opposition from parties within the UPA coalition.

The nuclear agreement opened up civilian nuclear cooperation and was seen as a landmark moment in India’s foreign relations.

Singh stayed committed to the deal, even at the risk of his government collapsing. He secured a historic agreement that ended India's nuclear isolation.

(With inputs from agencies)