Welcome Manmohan to the top job

By a masterstroke, she has disarmed her implacable political opponents in the Sangh Parivar who had made an issue of her foreign origin; edged out any possibility of a controversy stalking the working of the forthcoming Congress-led coalition government; and restored people's faith in politics as an instrument of public service. As a member of the family that saw two serving prime ministers assassinated, some pressure might have been exerted on her by her children to decline the top job, but this hardly detracts from the significance of her gesture. As a matter of fact, her standing with the people has appreciated further, Congress Party has emerged stronger, and with her in the powerful backstage role, she has the dispassion of guiding the party effectively down the line.

Manmohan Singh is going to be the first prime minister from among the minority communities in India, which is definitely a hallmark of her secularist tradition. He is a highly respected man at home and abroad because of his erudition and liberalism tempered with pragmatism. In !991, as finance minister under Narasimha Rao government, he played the path-breaking role in transforming the mixed economy since the Nehru days into a liberalised economy as part of the overall globalising economic scenario. His persona epitomises cool-headed judgement and equally soft-spoken persuasiveness, the qualities of head and heart he will have great use of in keeping the coalition in the best working order. Even the Left, which at one time, critiqued his allegedly IMF, World Bank 'leanings' have lent support to him as the choice for PM. In fact, he has already hinted at protecting the interest of farmers and workers.

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Manmohan Singh has friends in Bangladesh, among our economists in particular. What we want from the new Indian leadership is a fresh approach, one that is not bogged down in issues. Similarly, we urge our government to cultivate the new Indian leadership with an open mind so that the baggage of history is left behind to start a new era of mutually beneficial.