India's development priorities were key to Manmohan Singh's foreign policy

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has paid tributes to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and called him a "true statesman" and a "dedicated public servant". Dr Singh, who held office from 2004 to 2014 and was known as one of the architects of economic reforms in 1991 that pulled India from the brink of bankruptcy, died Thursday at 92.

"The unprecedented level of cooperation between the United States and India today would not have been possible without the Prime Minister's strategic vision and political courage," Mr Biden said in a statement on Friday.

From forging the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement to helping launch the first Quad between Indo-Pacific partners, Manmohan Singh charted "pathbreaking progress that will continue to strengthen our nations — and the world —for generations to come," Mr Biden said.