India's former prime minister mourned at a state funeral

India mourned one of its longest-serving prime ministers, Manmohan Singh, with a state funeral in Delhi.

Singh led the country from 2004 to 2014. and was considered the architect of India's economic liberalization. He died on Thursday aged 92.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ceremony on Saturday. He called Singh one of the country's “most outstanding leaders”.

Mourners gathered across the capital to pay their respects as Singh's coffin, flanked by a guard of honour, was carried through the city to the cremation ground.

His eldest daughter lit his funeral pyre at the crematorium in front of Modi, President Draupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhanhar and senior members of Singh's Congress party.

Foreign dignitaries such as King Jigme Kesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan and Foreign Minister of Mauritius Dhananjay Ramful were also present.

Singh was given full state honors in a ceremony that included a 21-gun salute.

Following his death on Thursday night, the government declared seven days of national mourning.

Paying tribute shortly after his death, Modi said Singh's “wisdom and humility were always visible” during their interactions, and that he had “made tremendous efforts to improve people's lives” as prime minister.

Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who also attended the funeral, said he had lost a “mentor and guide”.

Among foreign accolades, US President Joe Biden said his country's “unprecedented level of cooperation” with India would not have been possible without Singh's “strategic vision and political courage”.

“He was a true statesman. A dedicated public servant. And above all, he was a kind and humble man,” Biden said in a statement.

Singh changed the trajectory of India's economic growth during his time as Prime Minister and as the country's Finance Minister in 1991.

He is remembered for saying in his first budget speech: “No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come.”

He continued to build on his economic reform measures as prime minister, lifting millions out of poverty and contributing to India's rise as one of the world's fastest-growing major economies.

The first Sikh to hold a high office in India, Singh formally apologized in 2005. for the 1984 riots in which around 3,000 Sikhs were killed.

He was also the first Indian leader since Jawaharlal Nehru, who led the country from 1947. until his death in 1964, who was re-elected after a full first term.

However, Singh's second term was marred by a series of corruption allegations.

Many say the scandals were partly responsible for his party's crushing defeat in the Congress in the 2014 general elections.