The state funeral of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of India's economic reform agenda, began on Saturday as politicians and the public mourned his death.
The veteran leader, who was also praised for his role in the landmark nuclear deal with the United States, died late Thursday at the age of 92.
Singh's body was taken to the Congress party's headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday morning, where party leaders and activists paid their respects and chanted “Manmohan Singh will live forever.”
Party leader Abhishek Bishnoi said Singh's death was a big loss for the country.
“He didn't talk much earlier, but his talent and actions spoke louder than words,” Bishnoi said.
Singh's body was then taken to the crematorium for the last rites, with soldiers beating drums.
Authorities declared a seven-day mourning period, during which all cultural and recreational events were canceled.
National flags are being flown at half-mast at government buildings across India.
Mr. Singh, a mild-mannered technocrat, served as prime minister for 10 years and headed the Nationalist Congress Party in the upper house of parliament, earning a reputation as a man of great integrity.
He was elected prime minister by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 2004.
Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term was clouded by financial scandals and corruption charges surrounding the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
This resulted in a landslide defeat for the Congress party in the 2014 national elections to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party led by Narendra Modi.
After stepping down as prime minister, Singh kept a low profile.
As finance minister, Mr. Singh implemented reforms in 1991 that moved India away from a socialist pattern of the economy and towards a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, averting a potential economic crisis.
Mr. Singh was the first Sikh to hold the country's top post, and was the first Sikh to hold the country's top post, leading Congress to criticize the 1984 Sikh genocide, in which then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards and about 3,000 Sikhs were killed. He publicly apologized.
In a move hailed as one of his greatest achievements apart from economic reforms, Mr. Singh signed an agreement with the United States that gave India access to American nuclear technology, ending India's nuclear isolation. .
However, the deal dealt a blow to the coalition government in 2008, when its communist allies withdrew support and criticism of the deal grew in India.
