Former India PM Rao dead at 83
From CNN Correspondent Ram Ramgopal
DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's former prime minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, died Thursday at a New Delhi hospital after a lengthy illness. He was 83.
Both houses of India's parliament observed moments of silence after learning of his passing. India will observe seven days of official mourning and Rao will receive a full state funeral in the coming days.
Rao took over as prime minister of India in 1991, at a traumatic time for the country. His Congress party had just lost its leader, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assassinated in the middle of an election campaign.
He served as prime minister until 1996 and is credited with bringing foreign investment into India.
Rao, a veteran politician, inherited an economy teetering on the brink; India was on the verge of defaulting on its international debt.
Faced with a crisis, Rao did what many doubted he could -- he appointed a career technocrat, Manmohan Singh, as his finance minister, moving India decisively towards free market reforms.
More than 13 years later, the foundation laid by Singh and Rao has helped turn the Indian economy into among the best performing ones. And Manmohan Singh is now in the post of his former boss, as leader of the world's largest democracy.
Rao was a many-faceted man, an erudite scholar fluent in several languages. He taught himself to use a personal computer when he was in his 70s, and he even wrote a racy novel, "The Insider," chronicling his character's rise through the maze of Indian politics.
There was no doubt that Rao relished the political life, although he ventured cautiously into the heat and dust of the election campaign.
His reign in power was marked by violence, when Hindu zealots tore down a 16th century mosque in northern India, an incident that led to widespread clashes between Muslims and Hindus.
Rao was often asked if he had done enough to stop that violence. In an interview with CNN days after that incident, he said the violence did not represent a dangerous trend for relations between the communities.
"Sanity returns quickly to the people of India anywhere, when such a situation arises," he said.
His remaining years in office did not see any major violence.
While he traveled around the world on diplomatic missions, at home his government faced serious charges of political corruption. Rao was indicted in bribery cases, although he was later acquitted.
Though his impact on the country was significant, Rao kept a low profile while in office. After retiring, he receded further into the background.
-- CNN's Suhasini Haidar contributed to this report
