Vladimir Putin condoles Manmohan Singh's death, calls him 'outstanding statesman'

In his condolence note, Putin described Manmohan Singh as an outstanding statesman.

"As Prime Minister and when serving in other high-ranking positions, he accomplished a lot in promoting India’s economic development and asserting its interests on the world stage," he said.

"He also made a major personal contribution to strengthening friendly ties between our two countries by elevating them to the level of a special privileged strategic partnership. I had the occasion of talking with this remarkable man several times. We will cherish the memory of him," he said.

Ending an era in the Indian political paradigm, Manmohan Singh, who served as the Indian PM for two terms, died on Thursday. He was 92.

Manmohan Singh rose to prominence as the country's finance minister during the Congress regime headed by PV Narasimha Rao during 1991-96, for bringing sweeping reforms that transformed the economy.As the two-term UPA Prime Minister, he stayed at the top post from 2004 to 2014 and served as a member of the Rajya Sabha till early this year.He retired from the Rajya Sabha in April.

Earlier on Friday, the Indian government announced a seven-day state mourning to pay respect to Manmohan Singh.