Dr. Manmohan Singh — Profile, Specialty, Credentials & Public Visibility

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

The economist who rewrote India's relationship with global markets. As finance minister in 1991, Singh dismantled decades of license-raj controls and opened the economy — then spent ten years as prime minister navigating the political costs of those same reforms.

Biography

About

Born in Gah in what became Pakistan, Singh's family crossed into India during partition in 1947. After earning his economics doctorate from Oxford, he moved through the United Nations and India's bureaucracy, rising to governor of the Reserve Bank and head of the Planning Commission. In 1991, prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao made him finance minister; against fierce resistance, Singh pushed through the structural reforms that liberalized India's economy and built his global reputation. When the Congress-led coalition won in 2004, party leader Sonia Gandhi unexpectedly handed him the prime mi…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Manmohan Singh

Manmohan Singh

said28 Dec 2006

The only parallel to the practice of untouchability was apartheid.

— On Dalits and untouchability, "Indian leader likens caste system to apartheid regime", The Guardian (UK) (28 December 2006)

Manmohan Singh

said15 Dec 2006

I am delighted to hear the popularity of Odori Maharaja among young people here. Our children were delighted to see Odori Asimo - the dancing robot!

— On the popularity of Rajnikanth in Japan, as quoted in "'Dancing Maharaja' Rajnikant is a rage in Japan", Hindustan Times (15 December 2006)

Manmohan Singh

said9 Dec 2006

We will have to devise innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to share equitably the fruits of development.

— On 9th December 2006, during a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC). As quoted in "Muslims must have first claim on resources:

Manmohan Singh

saidDec 2006