On 19 May, Dr. Singh, emerging after his evening meeting with President Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam along with Sonia Gandhi, said that the burden of Prime Ministership had been thrust upon him. A visibly relaxed and beaming Gandhi, on her part, said "Our country will be safe in Dr. Manmohan Singh's hands." The nomination of Dr. Manmohan Singh appears to be a political masterstroke of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi who declined to become the Prime Minister.

On 21st May, Dr. Singh assured the nation that his new government would work to restore harmony among religions, remain investor-friendly and continue to seek peace with Pakistan. He said : " Unity and communal harmony are a priority." He called upon all "patriotic Indians" to shun Hindu nationalist sentiments against Muslims and other minorities. This is in sharp contrast to the policy followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which had been widely accused of ignoring and even stoking deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002 in the state of Gujarat.

On poverty, he said: "The war on poverty and disease has to be carried on relentlessly… in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, to build an India free from the fear of war, want and exploitation".

Dr. Singh's background
Dr. Singh is known to be a soft-spoken, unfailingly polite and affable person. He has led a very distinguished career all through his life. Whichever position he has occupied, he was able to bring changes into them and made distinct contribution in the area. He has left behind an impressive record of his service and has been a model public servant as a government official.

Somnath Chatterjee of the Communist Party (Marxist) said about Dr. Singh: "He is one of the decent persons, a knowledgeable economist and I will opt for him any time over any person in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)".

Born in a farming family in Gah, West Punjab, now in Pakistan, on September 26, 1932, he was educated at the Punjab University. (Incidentally President Musharraf was born in East Punjab, now in India). Singh then left for England for higher studies. After obtaining degrees from Oxford (a doctorate from Oxford) and Cambridge in mid-50s, he joined as a lecturer in the Punjab University. He then joined the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the late 60s. After that he joined Delhi School of Economics as a Professor.

Two years later his academic life was cut short and he joined the government. He has held several positions including the Chief Economic Adviser, Finance Secretary, and Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Thereafter, he became the Deputy Chairman of Panning Commission and Chairman of the University Grants Commission in the 80s and early 90s.

While he was the Deputy Chairman of the Panning Commission, he was deputed to become the Secretary General of the Geneva-based South Commission in 1987, a think-tank set up by the Non-Aligned Movement at the initiative of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad. The South Commission was entrusted, among others, with making suggestions for reformulating the strategies of growth and development of developing countries. It submitted its report in late 1990.

On his return, he was picked up by the then Congress Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, as Finance Minister in 1991. During his ministerial tenure, he re-energised India's economic growth by introducing a fundamental change in de-regulating India's stifled economy. He is commonly known as the "architect of India's economic reform". The BJP-led government largely followed his prescription.

Dr. Singh has always believed in the core values of Indian society -- particularly egalitarianism and in equal opportunity for all. He remains committed to ensure that poor and disadvantaged people benefit from economic growth.

Challenges for Dr. Singh
Dr. Singh said that his government's priority would be to carry forward Rajiv Gandhi's vision that "21st century will be India's century" and implement a model of economic reforms that would have a "human face". At the same time he reiterated his earlier statement to the investor community that "there is no reason for panic" and his government was committed to "responsible macro-economic policy". P.K. Basu, the head of Robust Economic Analysis, said: "The father of India's reform programme rising to the Prime Ministership would be very positive from the standpoint of the market." Mumbai's stock market bounced back considerably after his statement.

On economic front, Dr. Singh faces enormous challenges in turning India into a vibrant modern economy, comparable to what its rival China has achieved. In India, red tape is the suffocating presence in the government. In business, powerful market incentives including privatisation of state-owned industries could be a problem because one of the coalition allies is the Communist Party. They are not comfortable with privatisation policy of state-owned enterprises.

India is a federal government and state-governments need to cooperate with New Delhi in its path of economic reforms. Being hidebound by state-monopoly traditions and shackled by strong trade unions, some state governments may not see eye to eye with New Delhi. The reform of habits and culture steeped in regulation in the country is not an easy task.. The process of reinventing economic rejuvenation in turning India as a major global economic power will be neither quick, nor trouble-free.

On foreign affairs, composite dialogue with Pakistan, review of strategic relationship with US, Russia and Israel, role of India in Afghanistan and Iraq, relationship with China, and increasing influence in the Asia-Pacific region are some of the issues that require to be addressed. Furthermore, India's efforts in combating terrorism, preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, ensuring unhindered access of the sea lanes in the Indian Ocean, and managing consequences of instability from internal conflicts within countries in South Asia and South East Asia, require attention. Dr. Singh as Prime Minister will have to address the above issues adroitly and with diplomatic tact.

Another fact that merits attention is that the leadership of the Congress party has been bifurcated in the fact that Sonia Gandhi continues to be the Congress President and Chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, while Dr. Singh carries the burden of the Prime Minister. It was she, as the Chairperson of the parliamentary party, who nominated Dr. Singh to lead the government. Furthermore, it is reported that the co-ordination by the Congress Party with other 20 parties that form Dr. Singh's United Progressive Alliance government will be executed by Sonia Gandhi's office and that will leave Dr. Singh not to involve party-related political matters.

In the light of the situation, there appears to be a concern in some quarters whether Sonia Gandhi's office will become a parallel centre of power through 'remote control' in the process of decision-making of the Prime Minister. Although her son Rahul Gandhi, an MP from Amethi (UP) denied this possibility, most political analysts believe that this issue may not go away from the political scene in the immediate future. The very fact that Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan is expected to visit New Delhi, as the special envoy of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, with letters to India's Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi demonstrates the political weight of Sonia Gandhi in the new Congress-led government.

Conclusion
The performance of the new Singh government in both domestic and external sectors will be judged by the implementation of its promises. Political observers say that although Dr. Singh has been a great economic reformer, his abilities as a political manager remain untested. They believe that he would need sharp political skills to manage his Ministers from diverse political parties. Many will closely monitor how the Singh government differs from that of the BJP-led government in taking concrete steps to balance economic reform with improvement of the quality of life of the poor and to restore the country's image of a tolerant and secular nation.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.