‘When India was about to default…’, what is the world media saying on Manmohan Singh’s death?

The world is mourning the death of Manmohan Singh (Photo- Reuters)

All the major news outlets of the world have published news on the demise of Manmohan Singh. From Pakistan to Turkey, Middle East, America, Britain, media of all countries have remembered him and his achievements.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said goodbye to the world on Thursday December 26 , 2024 at the age of 92. Just like India, people of the whole world are mourning his demise and paying tribute to him by remembering his achievements. News paying tribute to Manmohan Singh has been published in media all over the world. Whether it is the media of Pakistan, American, British media or the media of Middle Eastern countries, news is being published on the demise of Manmohan Singh everywhere.
What is the media of Pakistan saying?

Almost all the major newspapers of Pakistan have published news on the demise of Manmohan Singh. ‘The Express Tribune’ wrote in a report that Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India and architect of the country’s economic liberalization, has passed away at the age of 92. The newspaper wrote that he was brought to AIIMS hospital in Delhi late Thursday evening due to prolonged illness and was declared dead at 9:51 pm.

The newspaper wrote, ‘An economist by profession, Manmohan Singh played a key role in transforming India’s economy during his tenure as finance minister in the early 1990s. His policies of economic liberalization opened India to global markets, setting the stage for the country’s rapid growth.’

Manmohan Singh was born on 26 September 1932 in Gah, a village in the Punjab province of British India (now in Pakistan). His family came to India after the partition in 1947.

Despite the turmoil of partition, he excelled in studies and obtained a first class degree in economics from Punjab University, Chandigarh. Singh graduated in economics from Cambridge University in 1957 and later obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University in 1962.

Pakistan’s largest English newspaper ‘Dawn’ has published a news on the death of Manmohan Singh, quoting news agency Reuters. The newspaper wrote, “Known as the ‘Reluctant King’ in his first term as Prime Minister, the calm-natured Manmohan Singh was undoubtedly one of India’s most successful leaders. He is credited with taking India to unprecedented economic development and lifting millions of people out of extreme poverty. He completed two terms as Prime Minister.” The newspaper wrote that Manmohan Singh’s becoming the Prime Minister in 2004 was very unexpected. Dawn writes, “Sonia Gandhi had asked him to take up this post. Being from Italy, she feared that if she led the country, her opponents would use it to attack the government.”

Geo TV, another Pakistani news network, has written in its report published quoting news agency AFP, ‘The former Prime Minister was a simple technocrat, whose first term was highly praised for India’s economic development. But his second term ended with big corruption scandals, slow growth rate and inflation. Due to Manmohan Singh’s unpopularity in the second term and Rahul Gandhi’s weak leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a huge victory for the first time in the year 2014.’

American Media

American newspaper CNN has published a report in which it is written that former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, who led the country through major reforms and paved the way for India’s emergence as a global economic superpower, has died at the age of 92.

Manmohan Singh, famous for wearing a blue turban, was India’s first Sikh minority Prime Minister. He led the world’s largest democracy from 2004 to 2014.

The American newspaper wrote, ‘He also ushered in a new era of cordial relations between India and the US, which led to the signing of the historic nuclear energy agreement between the two countries in 2008. In a statement on his demise, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken described him as “one of the greatest supporters of the US-India strategic partnership”.’

The newspaper wrote that after losing the post of Prime Minister in 2014 and Narendra Modi becoming the PM, Manmohan Singh reduced his activism in politics. A few months before his death, Manmohan Singh had said in a press conference that he did his best work as Prime Minister. He had said, ‘I honestly believe that history will be more kind to me than today’s media and opposition parties in Parliament.’

British media

On the demise of Manmohan Singh, Britain’s newspaper ‘The Guardian’ has written in an article that Manmohan Singh was called India’s ‘reluctant Prime Minister’ due to his shy nature and staying behind the scenes.

One of 10 siblings, Manmohan Singh was so dedicated to his education that he would study at night under street lights to avoid the noise in his joint family home.
His brother Surjit Singh recalled that their father used to say that Manmohan Singh would be the Prime Minister of India because he was always immersed in books.

The British newspaper wrote that Manmohan Singh was brought into politics in 1991, when India was facing one of the worst economic crises and was on the verge of default due to non-payment of debt. Then the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao made Manmohan Singh his Finance Minister.
The newspaper described Singh’s achievements as Finance Minister and wrote, ‘Manmohan Singh ended the license Raj, which determined what products factories could make and what kind of bread could be sold. He devalued the rupee to promote exports, opened major industrial areas to private and foreign investment and reduced taxes. These courageous efforts of his started the development of India, due to which Manmohan Singh got the name of India’s economic liberator. ‘

Qatar media

Qatar’s news network Al Jazeera has also published several reports on the death of Manmohan Singh. Al Jazeera wrote that during Manmohan Singh’s tenure, India experienced unprecedented economic growth and he launched several welfare schemes like employment programmes for the poor.

Manmohan Singh wanted to open up India’s economy further but was unable to go much further in this direction due to political disputes within his own party and demands from coalition partners.

Manmohan Singh was a respected economist who became the governor of India’s central bank and an advisor to the government, but when he was suddenly made the finance minister in 1991, he had no clear plan for political life. During his tenure till 1996, Manmohan Singh carried out reforms that saved India’s economy from a serious balance of payments crisis and took measures that opened the doors of the isolated country to the world.

Turkish media

Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT World has published a news on its website quoting news agency Reuters, titled – Former Prime Minister of India, architect of India’s economic reforms Manmohan Singh dies at the age of 92.

The report said that Dr. Manmohan Singh was highly respected among all the world leaders, but in India he always had to face the perception that the real power in the government lies with Sonia Gandhi.

TRT World further wrote, ‘Singh, famous for his simple lifestyle and honesty, was not considered personally corrupt. But during his second term, many scams came to light and he failed to take action against the people related to his government, due to which large-scale protests started.’

In the article, Turkish media wrote that India’s development journey faltered in the last years of Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister because global economic turmoil and slow decision-making of the government affected investment.