Manmohan Singh's biggest legacy was his effort to keep India untied: Farooq Abdullah

Srinagar: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Friday expressed grief over former prime minister Manmohan Singh's demise, saying his biggest legacy was that he tried to keep India united and spread love across the nation.

"Singh was an excellent economist. His biggest achievement was that he tried to keep India united. He opened the economy. Today, when we talk of a trillion-dollar economy, it is because of Singh," Abdullah, who was Singh's cabinet colleague, told reporters here.

Singh wanted friendly relations with our neighbours and "God willing, that time will come", said Abdullah, who was the Minister for Renewable Energy in the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

He noted that the economy was opened during the rule of Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao and said that today we can happily see that our economy is progressing.

"I was a minister in his cabinet, and for the first time in India, someone recognised renewable energy. On behalf of my family and my party, I pay my tributes to Singh and hope that we, and others, complete the work he left unfinished and take this country forward while maintaining brotherhood," he said.

Remembering Singh's efforts for peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir, the NC chief said his government took the biggest step of trying to bring back Kashmiri Pandits and address their difficulties in Jammu.

"Over 3,000 Kashmiri Pandits returned here, and their children were provided jobs. Colonies like Jagati were established for them so they could live comfortably until they return to their homes," he added.

Abdullah said not many like Singh are born and while they do a lot of work, they also face criticism.

"I pray to God to give strength to his family -- his wife and children -- to bear this pain. They should not forget that the sacrifices Singh made for this country will never go to waste,” the former Union minister said.

He added that both the present government and future governments should learn from Singh's example.

To a question on whether the Congress party would find it difficult to fill his void, Abdullah said finding such a leader would be very difficult, not just for the Congress party, but for the whole country.

"There are not many like him. There was no other Gandhi, no other Nehru or Sher-e-Kashmir (Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah)," he said.