CNN
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India’s former prime minister Manmohan Singh has died at the age of 92, according to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

According to the hospital, he lost consciousness at home on Thursday and was taken to AIIMS in New Delhi.

“He was being treated for age-related ailments and suddenly lost consciousness at home on December 26, 2024,” AIIMS wrote. “Immediate resuscitation measures were initiated at home. He was taken to the emergency medical facility at AIIMS.”

But despite the hospital’s efforts, Singh was pronounced dead at 9:51 p.m. local time. (11:21 a.m. ET), it added.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country was mourning Singh’s death and called him one of the country’s “most outstanding leaders.”

“As our Prime Minister, he has made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi wrote on X on Thursday.

Singh served as prime minister for two terms. In 2004, after an unexpected victory in national elections, Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi decided she didn’t want the country’s top job after all.

Instead, she turned to Singh, then finance minister, known for his role in sparking a bold wave of economic reforms in the early 1990s.

According to Reuters, his government introduced welfare programs such as an employment program for the rural poor. According to Reuters, Singh reached a landmark agreement in 2008 that allowed peaceful trade in nuclear energy with the United States for the first time in three decades. The following year he was guest of honor at then US President Barack Obama’s first state dinner at the White House.

As his second term came to an end, Singh’s achievements were overshadowed by high-profile corruption cases in his government. Singh was never accused of corruption, but his image suffered damage.

Months before his death, Singh said at a news conference that he had done his best as prime minister, Reuters reported. “I honestly believe history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or, for that matter, the opposition parties in parliament,” he said, according to Reuters.

Singh is survived by his wife and three daughters, Reuters reported.