NEW DELHI: In July 2008, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rose in Parliament to defend his embattled government in the face of a no-confidence motion. “Whatever I have done in this high office, I have done so with a clear conscience and the best interests of my country and our people at heart,” he said. The motion fell, and Singh completed two full terms in office.
Sixteen years later, political and ideological boundaries collapsed as leaders united in tribute to Singh.
Allies, opponents, world leaders, intellectuals, sportspersons and millions of common Indians paid homage to the two-time prime minister and former finance minister on Friday, hailing him as a “visionary” and an “outstanding statesman”.
Flags flew at half-mast across the national capital on a gloomy, overcast day and scores poured into Singh’s 3, Motilal Nehru Road residence, where his body was kept in state.
His wife Gursharan Kaur and other family members stood by his body, which was draped in the Tricolour, as people of all hues, including President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi paid their last respects.
Sonia Gandhi, who heads the Congress Parliamentary Party, called him her “friend, philosopher and guide”.
“A luminous and beloved guiding light for the Congress party, his compassion and vision transformed and empowered the lives of millions of Indians,” she said.
Several, including Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, left notes in a condolence book in the drawing room of his house, where he spent the final decade of his life after moving out of the official prime minister’s residence in 2014.
Tributes also poured in from across the globe, as former presidents, prime ministers and diplomats recollected their interactions with the soft-spoken economist, who died aged 92 of age-related ailments.
Social media was awash with images of Singh in his unmistakable powder-blue turban as people celebrated his transformative effect on the Indian economy after he broke the shackles of the Licence Raj as finance minister in 1991 and lay down social security measures for India’s poorest classes as prime minister between 2004 and 2014.
Singh’s body will be taken from his residence to the Congress’s Akbar Road headquarters at 8am on Saturday, where the public will be allowed to pay their condolences. At 9.30am, a funeral procession will proceed to Nigambodh Ghat. There, he will be laid to rest with full State honours at 11.45am.
The Union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met at 11am and paid tributes to “an eminent statesman, renowned economist and a distinguished leader” who “left his imprint on our national life.” The Centre had on Thursday declared a week of national mourning.
Separately, in a video eulogy, Modi remembered Singh as a remarkable human being whose journey from Partition-era displacement to India’s highest office embodied the nation’s resilient spirit.
“His humility, gentleness, and intellectualism became the hallmark of his parliamentary life. I remember that earlier this year when his term in the Rajya Sabha came to an end, I said that his dedication as a parliamentarian was an inspiration to all. Despite his age, he would attend important sessions in a wheelchair and fulfil his parliamentary duties,” Modi said. He later laid a wreath at Singh’s residence and offered condolences to his wife, Kaur.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajnath Singh and Hardeep Puri also visited the residence, as did BJP chief JP Nadda.
Chief ministers MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu), Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Revanth Reddy (Telangana) also reached Delhi to pay their respects.
Vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhar met Singh’s family and “acknowledged his enduring legacy”, his office said in a statement, while former president Ram Nath Kovind called Singh “a modern reformer for the Indian economy”.
A raft of foreign leaders and statesmen articulated their memories of the Cambridge- and Oxford-educated technocrat and underscored the efforts Singh made to establish India as a force on the global stage.
Singh was “a remarkable man” who made a “major personal contribution to strengthening friendly ties” between the two countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement.
“As Prime Minister and when serving in other high-ranking positions, he accomplished a lot in promoting India’s economic development and asserting its interests on the world stage. He also made a major personal contribution to strengthening friendly ties between our two countries by elevating them to the level of a special privileged strategic partnership… I had the occasion of talking with this remarkable man several times. We will cherish the memory of him,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “India has lost a great man” and France a true friend.
“He had devoted his life to his country. Our thoughts are with his family and the people of India,” Macron said on X.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim offered a moving tribute to his former Indian counterpart, calling him, “my mitra (friend), my bhai (brother)”.
“During the years of my incarceration, he extended a kindness that he didn’t have to — one that was neither politically expedient nor, as one can imagine, appreciated by the Malaysian government at that time… He offered scholarships for my children, particularly my son, Ihsan. Although I had declined the gracious offer, such a gesture undoubtedly showed his extraordinary humanity and generosity,” said Ibrahim, who was imprisoned between 1999 and 2004, and then from 2015 to 2018.
United States secretary of state Antony Blinken called Singh “one of the greatest champions of the bilateral strategic partnership”. “Dr Singh was one of the greatest champions of the US-India strategic partnership, and his work laid the foundation for much of what our countries have accomplished together in the past two decades,” he said.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called him “a visionary leader”.
Tributes also arrived from the leaders of Afghanistan, Maldives, Mauritius, and Nepal, underscoring the indelible footprint that Singh’s legacy left on southeast Asia in particular.
Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper said he was saddened to learn of the passing.
“He was an individual of exceptional intelligence, integrity, and wisdom. Laureen and I wish to convey our condolences to all his family and friends,” Harper said.
Several business leaders hailed Singh’s legacy that snapped government control of business and allowed private enterprises to flourish.
Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said the nation lost one of its tallest leaders and finest economists. “His most defining contribution — the epochal 91 reforms spurred a multi-decadal economic boom and more importantly reshaped the calculus of possibilities for India and Indians,” Birla said in a statement.
Indian industry, economy, and entrepreneurs in particular, owe a debt of gratitude to the liberalisation reforms that were ushered in the early 90s under Manmohan Singh’s leadership, Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal said.
Economists across the world also paid their respects to a luminary in their field, who was also deputy chief of the erstwhile Planning Commission and governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Former World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu said Singh’s modesty came from “a deep sense of courage and self-confidence.”
“He was a combination of sharp intellect, innate modesty and personal integrity, which is rare in politics,” the former chief economic advisor to the Indian government told news agency PTI.
Gita Gopinath, first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), credited Singh with “significantly enhancing the economic prospects for hundreds of millions of Indians”.
“His visionary reforms inspired countless young economists like me. Rest in peace, Dr Manmohan Singh,” she said.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar led the sporting world in paying homage.
“Dr Manmohan Singh ji’s demise is a profound loss for India. His contributions to our nation shall always be remembered. My prayers are with his family and loved ones as we mourn his passing away,” he said on X.