NEW DELHI: Eminent economist and former prime minister of India Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday at AIIMS Delhi. He was 92. Singh was admitted to AIIMS Delhi on Thursday after experiencing breathing difficulties. It was Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi’s husband Robert Vadra, who first announced the news through his X page.

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ji. My deepest condolences for his family and loved ones. Thank you for your service to our Nation. You will always be remembered for your Economic revolution and progressive changes, you brought to the country,” Robert Vadra on X.

Singh remains India’s only Sikh prime minister and rose to prominence with his path-breaking liberal economic policies floated during his tenure as Finance minister in PV Narasimha Rao’s government. It was his brain that helped India’s economy to trudge the road of liberalization. A representative of the upper House from Assam for five consecutive times, Singh in 2019, changed course and got elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

Manmohan Singh was born in Gah, now in Pakistan. His family migrated to India during the partition. He studied at Panjab University and later went to Cambridge to earn a degree in economics.

In 2004, when the United Progressive Alliance came to power, the then-chairperson Sonia Gandhi befuddled political analysts after suggesting Singh to be the prime minister of India. His tenure lasted for 10 long years until Narendra Modi dethroned the UPA government in a landslide victory.