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India - Head of Government

The Hon Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister

The Hon Dr Manmohan Singh became India’s 14th Prime Minister in May 2004.

Dr Singh has been a member of India’s Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha) since 1991, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 1998 to 2004. He was Finance Minister from 1991 to 1996. Dr Singh served as Secretary-General of the South Commission in Geneva from 1987 to 1990.

Dr Singh joined the civil service as an Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Commerce in 1971. The following year, he was appointed Chief Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Finance. Dr Singh went on to hold many senior positions including Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Adviser of the Prime Minister and Chairperson of the University Grants Commission.

Before that, Dr Singh taught at Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics. He also had a brief stint at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretariat in Geneva.

Dr Singh completed his matriculation examinations at Punjab University and obtained a BA (Hons, 1st class) in economics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in economics from Nuffield College, Oxford University.

He is the author of India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth (1964).

Dr Singh was born on 26 September 1932 in Punjab, India.