India’s former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who steered the country through sweeping reforms and paved the way for its emergence as a global economic powerhouse, has died. He was 92.

The country’s first Sikh prime minister, he introduced free-market reforms that turned India into an economic powerhouse and sought reconciliation with Pakistan.

When Singh took the reins of the finance ministry in 1991, India's fiscal deficit was close to 8.5 per cent of the GDP, the balance of payments deficit was huge and the current account deficit was close to 3.