Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of the country's economic reform program, was laid to rest on Saturday after a state funeral as politicians and the public mourned his death.
The veteran leader, who was also credited with a landmark nuclear deal with the US, died late on Thursday at the age of 92.
Singh's body was taken to his Congress party headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday morning, where party leaders and workers paid their respects and chanted “Long live Manmohan Singh”.
Abhishek Bishnoi, a party leader, said Singh's death is a big loss for the country. He said that he spoke less but his talent and his actions spoke louder than his words.
Later, Singh's body was taken to the crematorium for his last rites as soldiers beat drums.
Government officials, politicians and family members paid their last respects to Singh, whose casket was decorated with flowers and draped in the Indian flag. The security personnel honored them with a ceremonial gun salute.
Indian President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called Singh one of the country's “most respected leaders”, and several cabinet ministers attended the funeral.
Singh's body was then transferred to a pyre and cremated with the playing of religious hymns.
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Authorities declared seven days of mourning and canceled all cultural and entertainment events during that time. The national flag flies at half-mast on government buildings across India.
A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress party in the upper house of parliament, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. He was elected Prime Minister in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term was overshadowed by financial scandals and allegations of corruption over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Due to this, in the 2014 national elections, the Congress party faced a crushing defeat at the hands of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party led by Narendra Modi.
Singh kept a low profile after stepping down as Prime Minister.
As finance minister, Singh initiated reforms in 1991 that moved India away from a socialist-style economy and towards a capitalist model, driven by a large balance of payments deficit, a Averted a potential economic crisis.
Singh was the first Sikh to hold the country's highest office and publicly apologized in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh massacre in which around 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards. were
In a move hailed as one of his greatest achievements apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India's nuclear isolation by signing an agreement with the United States that gave India access to American nuclear technology.
But the deal hurt his coalition government, with communist allies withdrawing support and criticism of the deal amid growing inside India after the deal was finalized in 2008.
US President Joe Biden, in a condolence statement, called Singh a true statesman and a dedicated public servant who “made groundbreaking strides that will continue to strengthen our nations and the world for generations to come.”
“The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the Prime Minister's strategic vision and political courage,” Biden said.
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