Former PM Manmohan Singh to get Indira Gandhi peace prize

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Former prime minister ManmohanSingh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,Disarmament and Development this year fo...

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) Former prime minister ManmohanSingh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,Disarmament and Development this year for his leadership ofthe country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India'sstature globally.

According to a statement from the Indira Gandhi MemorialTrust, Singh was unanimously chosen for the award by aninternational jury chaired by ex-president Pranab Mukherjee.

"The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament andDevelopment is awarded to Manmohan Singh for his leadership ofthe country and his achievements during the momentous 10 yearsfrom 2004 to 2014, for his contributions to the cause ofeconomic and social development, for improving India's staturein the world and its relationship with the neighbours and theleading nations of the world, and for his dedication to thesecurity and well being of ordinary citizens regardless oftheir faith, caste, region or language," a statement from theTrust's secretary Suman Dubey said.

The Trust said Singh is only the third Indian primeminister to complete two full terms as the PM between 2004 and2014. His tenure witnessed the path-breaking nuclear agreementwith the US and the Copenhagen Climate Change agreement, thestatement said.

Singh, who as the governor of the Reserve Bank of Indiaand the finance minister in the government headed byP V Narasimha Rao, played a pivotal role in ushering economicreforms, it said adding that as prime minister he led India inachieving the highest sustained rate of economic growth sinceIndependence.

The Trust said Singh has been responsible for makingIndia's voice heard more effectively at international forums.

"The 10 years of his premiership were not only a periodof rapid economic and social changes, they witnessed thelowest terrorist violence, prolonged period of communalharmony, peace on the country's borders and a globallyacknowledged rise in India's standing in the global communityof nations," the statement said.

The international award named after former prime ministerIndira Gandhi was instituted in 1986. The award has beenannounced on the eve of Gandhi's birth anniversary, whichfalls tomorrow.

The last two recipients have been the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation and the UN High Commission for Refugees.

PTI SKCABH.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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