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NEW DELHI — Authorities in India have declared a seven-day mourning period to honour Manmohan Singh, officials said Friday, as politicians and public paid tributes to the country’s former prime minister widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program.

Officials cancelled all cultural and entertainment events for the week, with government buildings flying the national flag at half staff across India.

Singh, who died late Thursday at age 92, is scheduled to be cremated today.

Singh’s body was put in a glass casket, adorned with flowers and wrapped in the Indian flag, as leaders and mourners paid their respects. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited his home and offered condolences to his family.

Later, Modi in a video message said Singh’s life “was a reflection of his honesty and simplicity.”

“He saved the country from an economic crisis by providing a road towards a new economy. As a prime minister, his contribution towards the development and progress of the country will always be remembered,” Modi said.

A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh was prime minister for 10 years and leader of the Congress Party in the Parliament’s upper house, earning a reputation as a man of great personal integrity.

He was chosen to fill the role in 2004 by Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

But his sterling image was tainted by allegations of corruption against his ministers.

Singh was re-elected in 2009, but his second term as prime minister was clouded by financial scandals and corruption charges over the organization of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. This led to the Congress Party’s crushing defeat in the 2014 national election by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Modi.

Singh adopted a low profile after relinquishing the post of prime minister.

He was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences late Thursday after his health deteriorated due to a “sudden loss of consciousness at home,” the hospital said in a statement.

“Resuscitative measures were started immediately at home. He was brought to the Medical Emergency” at 8:06 p.m., the hospital said, but “despite all efforts, he could not be revived and was declared dead at 9:51 p.m.”

Singh was being treated for “age-related medical conditions,” the statement said.

Modi, who succeeded Singh in 2014, called him one of India’s “most distinguished leaders” who rose from humble origins and left “a strong imprint on our economic policy over the years.”

“As our Prime Minister, he made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives,” Modi said in a post on the social platform X. He called Singh’s interventions in Parliament as a lawmaker “insightful” and said “his wisdom and humility were always visible.”

Rahul Gandhi, from the same party as Singh and the opposition leader in the lower house of the Indian Parliament, said Singh’s “deep understanding of economics inspired the nation” and that he “led India with immense wisdom and integrity.”

“I have lost a mentor and guide. Millions of us who admired him will remember him with the utmost pride,” Gandhi wrote on X.

The United States offered its condolences, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that Singh was “one of the greatest champions of the U.S.-India strategic partnership.”

“We mourn Dr. Singh’s passing and will always remember his dedication to bringing the United States and India closer together,” Blinken said.

Born on Sept. 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India, Singh’s brilliant academic career took him to Cambridge University in Britain, where he earned a degree in economics in 1957. He then got his doctorate in economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962.

Singh taught at Panjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics before joining the Indian government in 1971 as economic advisor in the Commerce Ministry. In 1982, he became chief economic adviser to the Finance Ministry. He also served as deputy chair of the Planning Commission and governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

As finance minister, Singh in 1991 instituted reforms that opened up the economy and moved India away from a socialist-patterned economy and toward a capitalist model in the face of a huge balance of payments deficit, skirting a potential economic crisis.

His accolades include the 1987 Padma Vibhushan Award, India’s second-highest civilian honour; the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress in 1995; and the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year in 1993 and 1994.

» The Associated Press

Singh was the first Sikh to hold the country’s top post and made a public apology in Parliament for the 1984 Sikh Massacre in which some 3,000 Sikhs were killed after then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by Sikh bodyguards.

In a move hailed as one of his biggest achievements apart from economic reforms, Singh ended India’s nuclear isolation by signing a deal with the U.S. that gave India access to American nuclear technology.

But the deal hit his government adversely, with Communist allies withdrawing support and criticism of the agreement growing within India in 2008 when it was finalized.

Singh adopted a pragmatic foreign policy approach, pursuing a peace process with nuclear rival and neighbour Pakistan. But his efforts suffered a major setback after Pakistani militants carried out a massive gun and bomb attack in Mumbai in November 2008.

Singh is survived by his wife Gursharan Kaur and three daughters.

» The Associated Press