CNN
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Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has died at the age of 92, the hospital where he was treated has announced.
The hospital said Singh fell unconscious at home on Thursday and was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
“He was undergoing treatment for age-related medical conditions and suddenly lost consciousness at his home on December 26, 2024,” AIIMS wrote. “Resuscitation measures were immediately started at home. He was taken to the emergency room of AIIMS.”
However, it added that despite the hospital’s efforts, Singh was pronounced dead at 9:51 pm (11:21 am ET).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India mourned the death of Singh, calling him one of the country’s “most distinguished leaders.”
“As our Prime Minister, he made great efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi wrote in Thursday’s X.
Mr. Singh served as prime minister for two terms. In 2004, after an unexpected victory in the national elections, Nationalist Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi decided that she did not want the country’s top job after all.
She turned instead to Mr. Singh, who was known for his role in sparking a wave of bold economic reforms as finance minister in the early 1990s.
According to Reuters, the country’s government has introduced welfare schemes, including employment programs for the rural poor. In 2008, Singh signed a landmark agreement with the United States that allowed peaceful trade in nuclear energy for the first time in 30 years, the news agency said. The following year, he attended then-US President Barack Obama’s first White House state dinner as the guest of honor.
By the end of his second term, Singh’s achievements were overshadowed by high-profile corruption scandals within his administration. Although Mr. Singh was never accused of corruption, his image was tarnished.
A few months before his death, Singh told a press conference that he had done his best as prime minister, Reuters reported. “I honestly believe that history has been kinder to me than the modern media and, for that matter, the opposition in Congress,” he said, according to the station.
According to Reuters, Singh is survived by his wife and three daughters.
