Why Manmohan Singh never returned to his native village in Pakistan

But that is not the story I am narrating here.

The story is about why Singh, who went to Shakespeare’s native village to honour the Bard of Avon, never visited his own native village after he had left it. For 10 years, while he was Prime Minister, he was repeatedly asked by governments in Pakistan to visit his native village, Gah, in the Chakwal district of Pakistani Punjab. After he had demitted office, I asked Singh why he never returned to his native village. “After all, as Prime Minister, you would have been feted by one and all,” I said. “Yadan badeeyan talkh hun,” he said — his memories of Partition and his village were very bitter.

The local Government Boys’ School in Gah village has since been renamed after Singh. Additionally, a mini-grid supported by India’s The Energy and Resources Institute now brings solar power to numerous families in the village, which was once bereft of electricity. Yet, Singh chose to avoid the grandstanding that could have accompanied such a visit. Like millions of Indians, he moved away from the past and sought to rebuild his life.

In many ways, his story is the story of modern India — a country that has moved beyond the trauma of imperialism and partition to craft a success that is now the envy of the world.

A telling example of how Singh focused on India’s future rather than reminiscing about the past is evident from another conversation I had with him. I asked him about the global leaders he had met. In an almost schoolboy manner, I asked: Who was the best global leader he had interacted with? “It is not a question of who was the best that matters,” he told me. “It was a question of who was the best for India, and in that regard, I place George Bush (junior) above all others.”

Taken aback, I asked him to explain his rationale. He reasoned: “For decades, the United States had viewed India with suspicion. Even the end of the Cold War did not result in a significant shift in trust towards India. However, George Bush became genuinely interested in India’s story. He recognised energy as a key factor in driving India’s progress and worked extraordinarily hard to secure the Indo-US nuclear deal.”

The nuclear deal was more than just an agreement, it signalled a paradigm shift and encouraged US companies to start courting India. The underlying logic was simple: If the US government could trust India with nuclear technology, there was no reason not to trust Indian businesses. That, according to Singh, is what made George Bush the best leader from India’s perspective.

I learnt much later that Bush, after his retirement, painted portraits of global leaders he admired, and Manmohan Singh’s portrait was among them. I believe it’s one of the exhibits at the Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

From Chakwal to Cambridge, and from Gah to global statesmanship, Manmohan Singh’s life epitomised the journey of modern India. I intend to visit the Presidential Center in Dallas one day to celebrate and honour the life of the Bard of Indian Economic Reforms — just as Manmohan Singh once visited Stratford-upon-Avon to honour the memory of the Bard of Avon.

The writer is former Finance Minister of Punjab