New Delhi:

In his signature white kurta-pyjama and blue turban, Manmohan Singh, then 71, took the oath of office as India’s 14th Prime Minister on May 22, 2004. Members of Dr Singh’s family, political allies, and predecessors – including Atal Bihari Vajpayee – looked on as a quiet and reserved leader assumed the reins of power at a ceremony conducted by then-President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Until the 2004 election results were announced, it was widely assumed that the incumbent NDA government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee would secure a second term. The BJP’s high-profile “India Shining” campaign dominated the airwaves. Political analysts and exit polls had overwhelmingly predicted a BJP-led victory. However, the Congress party, under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership, spearheaded a comeback.

READ | “People Say I Was…”: When Manmohan Singh Defended “Silent PM” Charge

The Congress-led UPA coalition emerged victorious, securing enough support from regional allies to form the government. Sonia Gandhi, expected by many to assume the prime ministership, instead made a decision that surprised many: she stepped aside in favour of Manmohan Singh, citing her “inner voice”.

Sonia Gandhi’s Italian roots have been a contentious political issue since she entered active politics in 1998. In 2004, despite Congress’s electoral success, the issue resurfaced when BJP leaders like Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti reignited the controversy. Ms Swaraj even threatened dramatic protests, including shaving her head, should Mrs Gandhi become Prime Minister.

READ | Manmohan Singh’s Poetic Banter With Sushma Swaraj In Parliament

Sonia Gandhi also faced resistance internally. In his autobiography, One Life Is Not Enough, former External Affairs minister and Congress leader Natwar Singh recounted a tense moment at Mrs Gandhi’s residence, where Rahul Gandhi strongly urged his mother not to accept the position, citing his worries in light of the assassinations of his father, Rajiv Gandhi, and grandmother, Indira Gandhi.

Mrs Gandhi’s refusal to accept the top post paved the way for Manmohan Singh’s ascent. As a soft-spoken technocrat with no mass political base, Dr Singh was an unlikely choice. A career economist who had served as Finance Minister in PV Narasimha Rao’s government during the 1991 economic liberalisation, Dr Singh had earned respect in policy circles but lacked the typical attributes of a political leader. His lone attempt to contest a Lok Sabha seat, from South Delhi in 1999, ended in defeat, and Dr Singh remained a Rajya Sabha member throughout his political career.

READ | “Greatest Champion”: World Leaders Pay Tributes To Ex-PM Manmohan Singh

Despite being termed the “Accidental Prime Minister,” Dr Singh’s decade-long tenure was marked by some great achievements. His government launched transformative programs like the Right to Information (RTI), the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), and the Right to Education (RTE).

Dr Singh’s tenure, however, was not without controversies. In 2008, his government faced a confidence vote after the Left parties withdrew support over the Indo-US nuclear deal. Dr Singh staked his political capital on the agreement, arguing it was crucial for India’s energy security. His government survived the trust vote by a narrow margin.

The UPA lost power in 2014, with Narendra Modi’s BJP securing a landslide victory. Dr Singh exited public life with characteristic grace, stating, “I honestly believe history will be kinder to me than the contemporary media or for that matter, the Opposition parties in Parliament.”

Hyderabad:

The previous UPA government decided “not to do anything” after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks with the justification that “it would cost more to attack Pakistan than not attacking it”, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar claimed on Tuesday.

Describing India as a voice of the ‘Global South’ (comprising about 125 countries), he said the countries of the Global South trust India to take up their cause and positions in the world.

Addressing a gathering at a talk on ‘Foreign Policy the India Way: From Diffidence to Confidence’, the minister said that the country has a moral obligation towards some of the countries, which were under colonial rule and could not recover, rebuild as quickly as India did.

“We are a voice of the Global South, which is about a 125 countries in the world. These countries trust India to take up their cause, their positions in the world,” he said.

He said India has some challenges at the borders and the key to defend them is not to just posture in public but to build infrastructure, support the military and create a system that will respond whenever the border is under threat.

In the “defensive era”, terrorism was accepted, he said, referring to the previous UPA tenure.

“After Mumbai (attacks), the national security advisor of the previous UPA government wrote (that) ‘we sat, we debated. We considered all the options. Then we decided to do nothing. We decided to do nothing and the justification was we felt the cost of attacking Pakistan was more than the cost of not attacking Pakistan’, ” he claimed, adding, “I leave you to judge.”

Talking about how the foreign policy moved from the times of “diffidence” to confidence, he said, “we moved from diffidence to confidence when we crossed that line of control. And, we did it again, when we crossed the boundary to go and hit Balakot”.

The country now deals with the United States much more confidently than it used to deal before, he said.

Asked should the country be exporting BrahMos missiles to other countries as well, after the Philippines, he said it is a very good example how Make in India and defence has got the country an important contact.

“But, it’s not just BrahMos. It would be other equipment as well. I think this is new area that India is entering. (PM) Modi ji has been very strongly motivating our defence producers saying we are good enough today to go out in the world. So, I am very confident that our defence exports will grow,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)