Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 27 : Former Indian envoy, Syed Akbaruddin, expressed grief over the demise of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling it a "sad day" for all Indians as one of India's "most important policymakers" has passed away.
Akbaruddin, who served as India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said Manmohan Singh was an architect of modern India in many ways and had opened up the country's economy and ushered in reforms. He praised Manmohan Singh's role in steering the India-US nuclear accord.
Speaking to ANI, Syed Akbaruddin said, "It's a sad day for all Indians that one of India's most important public policymakers has passed away. Dr. Manmohan Singh is an architect of modern India in many ways. As finance minister, we all know that he opened up our economy, he brought in ushered in reforms. But then, even as prime minister, he was responsible for many policy changes which are bearing fruit now, for example, in the arena of diplomacy, he was crucial in steering the India-US nuclear accord, which opened up for us not only nuclear trade and commerce but high tech trade and commerce and we are now great beneficiaries of that."
Manmohan Singh passed away at AIIMS, Delhi, on Thursday evening at the age of 92 due to age-related medical conditions. He had a sudden loss of consciousness at home after which he was rushed to the AIIMS Delhi.
Recalling his experience of working with the former PM, Akbraduddin further said, "I was fortunate to be able to serve him during 2012 to 2014 when he was the Prime Minister and to me, he always appeared as a very kind benevolent and gracious person but intellectually very sharp. I've been in many conference rooms or meeting rooms with him and he clearly used to come out as the sharpest person who would master his brief, who would know many more details than any of the civil servants in that room.
"So it's, of course, been an honour to work with him and a privilege and we are all Indians are beneficiaries of Dr. Manmohan Singh's policies and his acumen, but also his kindness and graciousness. So it's a sad day for all Indians that we've lost an architect of modern India who had contributed so much for our young, for our growth as a nation. As we go towards Viksit Bharat which Prime Minister Modi has targeted for us. Shri Manmohan Singh's contribution to that will always be remembered," he added.
Praising the former PM's efforts in the economic sector, he said Manmohan Singh opened up India's economy on multiple fronts. He said that the former PM initiated the process of UIDAI and the Aadhaar card.
Speaking about the former PM's efforts in the economic sector, he said, "In the economic arena, we were a closed economy. He opened up the economy for us in multiple fronts. But later on, he understood the importance of technology. Therefore, even in the nuclear deal, there was a technology denial regime which he helped. And he actually initiated the process of the UIDAI and the Aadhaar card. Today, you can see how digital India has done so well, because following the initiation by Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken it to the next level. So he built the foundation on which the infrastructure of modern digital India is there. So every Indian who uses a smartphone or even otherwise uses the UPI owes him a debt of gratitude."
He also talked about how the former PM used to hold meetings during his foreign visits. He said Manmohan Singh was a leader who knew the past and could plan for the future.
"Dr Manmohan Singh had a very unusual way of starting meetings. Whenever we used to go to a foreign country for discussion about various issues with their leaders, he would always start the meeting by saying, so. Why have you brought me here? Please explain and then he would provoke us to give the reasons that this visit was important for. And always he would start, so why have you come here? Please explain to me. And then always I would remember that starting point and what happened was most of our civil servants used to work for two to three years in any job or maximum four years," Akbaruddin said.
"But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, by the time I started working with him, I had worked for seven-eight years. And so he knew more than all of us. But he would just ask us. And then he would, after we'd given our view, he would say, but when I met XYZ in 2007 and I started working in 2012, there's nobody in the room who knows what happened in 2007. So, he brought in a stability of a leader who knew the past and could plan for the future. Most civil servants, we stay for two, three, four years in a job. So we don't have that depth of knowledge that a stable, long-term prime minister has. So, India has been fortunate that we've had two consecutive prime ministers who have been providing us stable leadership for long times. It started with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his two terms. Now, we have Prime Minister Narendra Modi with three terms. So stable leadership plays a role much more influential than what we call the career civil servants because they have a better idea of issues saying longer," he added.
Akbaruddin credited former PM Manmohan Singh for India-US nuclear deal. He said former PM Singh understood India's engagement with US has to be free of high-tech regulations and he used nuclear deal to allow India to liberate itself from the restrictions that the rest of the world opposed in technology.
On Manmohan Singh's foreign policy, the former Indian envoy said, "I think from a foreign policy angle, the one change that he brought was the India-US nuclear deal because he virtually staked his government there. Not many people stake governments on foreign policy issues. You stake it on big economic issues, big social issues, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh understood that in a globalized world, our engagement with the US has to be free of high-tech regulations and he used nuclear deal to allow India to liberate itself from the restrictions that the rest of the world opposed in technology and that has led to a multiplicity, not only in the nuclear field, but in the digital field, but in other areas, now in what we call the critical technologies area."
"So, from a foreign policy angle, he shifted India's focus from the 20th century to what would be the challenges of the 21st century in technology. And for that, because it succeeded and because the whole of India supported him, it engendered a amount of self-confidence in Indians and in diplomats, which is still rubbing off on all our young people. So, that one decision has a long-term effect, not only in terms of engagement with it, but the morale of the personnel, the general belief that we could do it, we could overcome obstacles. And today, India is a different country, thanks to some of those decisions that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took," he added.
Singh, renowned for introducing the 1991 economic liberalisation reforms as the Finance Minister of India, will be cremated near Rajghat, at the location where the last rites of Prime Ministers are performed. Manmohan Singh was born on September 26, 1932.
Apart from being an economist, Manmohan Singh served as Reserve Bank of India governor from 1982-1985. He was the 13th PM of India with his tenure from 2004-2014 and was the longest-serving PM after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.
Serving as the finance minister of India in PV Narasimha Rao's government, Singh has been given credit for economic liberalisation in the country in 1991. The reforms made the Indian economy more accessible to foreign investors, which increased FDI and reduced government control. It greatly contributed to the country's economic growth.