Members of Congress party pay homage to India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh, considered an architect of the country's economic liberalisation.
AFP
Coffin was draped in garlands of flowers in the colours of India's flag
His body will be cremated with full state honours
Singh hailed for overseeing economic boom in his first term but faced challenges in his second term
Mourners in India's capital gathered Saturday to pay their respects to former prime minister Manmohan Singh ahead of a state funeral for the man key to the country's economic liberalization.
Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014, died at the age of 92 on Thursday, after which seven days of state mourning were declared.
His coffin, draped in garlands of flowers in the orange, white and green colors of India's flag, was flanked by a guard of honor and taken to his Congress Party headquarters in New Delhi.
His body will later be taken through the capital to be cremated, with full state honors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who along with other leaders is expected to attend the funeral, called Singh one of India's "most distinguished leaders".
Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he had lost "a mentor and guide", adding that Singh had "led India with immense wisdom and integrity".
Indian National Congress (INC) party leader Rahul Gandhi (Centre R) is pictured during procession as the coffin of India's late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is taken for a state funeral ceremony in New Delhi on December 28, 2024.AFP
The former premier was an understated technocrat who was hailed for overseeing an economic boom in Asia's fourth-largest economy in his first term.
Singh's second stint ended with a series of major corruption scandals, slowing growth and high inflation.
Singh's unpopularity in his second term, and lackluster leadership by Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi, the current opposition leader in the lower house, led to Modi's first landslide victory in 2014.
Born in 1932 in the mud-house village of Gah in what is now Pakistan, Singh studied economics to find a way to eradicate poverty in the vast nation and never held an elected post before taking the nation's highest office.
He won scholarships to attend both Cambridge, where he obtained a first in economics, and Oxford, where he completed his doctorate.
Singh worked in a string of senior civil service posts, served as a central bank governor and also held various jobs with global agencies including the United Nations.
He was tapped in 1991 by then Congress prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to reel India back from the worst financial crisis in its modern history.
Singh steered the economy through a period of nine percent growth in his first term, lending India the international clout it had long sought.
Officers lead the coffin of India's late former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for a state funeral ceremony in New Delhi on December 28, 2024.AFP
He also sealed a landmark nuclear deal with the United States that he said would help India meet its growing energy needs.
President Droupadi Murmu said that Singh would "always be remembered for his service to the nation, his unblemished political life and his utmost humility".
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