Authorities in India have declared a seven-day mourning period to honor Manmohan Singh as politicians and public paid tributes to the country’s former prime minister widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge were among the top leaders who paid homage to former prime minister Manmohan Singh at his residence here on Friday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh as someone who "made extensive efforts to improve people’s lives," while President Droupadi Murmu remembered him as a "rare politician who also straddled the worlds of academia and administration with equal ease.