Ahead of ASEAN meet, Cong recalls Malaysian PM's glowing tributes to Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's summit meeting with ASEAN leaders under the chairmanship of his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim, the Congress on Sunday recalled what the Malaysian premier had said on the demise of Manmohan Singh, which it said reflected the "true friendship that was never advertised or boasted about".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a screenshot of Ibrahim's post on Singh's death last December.

In his post, the Malaysian PM said, "The weight of grief bears down on me at the news of the passing of my honoured and cherished friend: Dr Manmohan Singh. Obituaries, essays and books a plenty there will surely be about this great man, celebrating him as the architect of India's economic reforms." As the prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh was the midwife of India's emergence as one of the world's economic giants, Ibrahim said.

"I had the rare privilege of witnessing the early years of these transformative policies first-hand while we both served as finance ministers during the 1990s. We shared a fervent commitment to the war against corruption -- even collaborating on unravelling a major case," Ibrahim wrote.

The praise that will follow in the days ahead will be truly well-deserved, the Malaysian PM said.

Dr Manmohan Singh, slightly awkward as a politician but undeniably upright, steadfast and resolute as a statesman, leaves behind a legacy that will inspire generations to come, Ibrahim said.

"To me, he will be all that and much more. Not many people know this, and it is time that I share it with Malaysians: during the years of my incarceration, he extended a kindness that he didn't have to -- one that was neither politically expedient nor, as one can imagine, appreciated by the Malaysian government at that time. Yet, true to his character, he did it anyway.

"He offered scholarships for my children, particularly my son, Ihsan. Although I had declined the gracious offer, such a gesture undoubtedly showed his extraordinary humanity and generosity, demonstrative, as the Bard would have it, of a man so full of 'the milk of human kindness'," the Malaysian PM said.

"In those dark days, as I navigated the labyrinth of imprisonment, he stood by me as a true friend. Such acts of quiet magnanimity defined him, and they will remain etched in my heart forever. Goodbye, my mitra, my bhai, Manmohan," Ibrahim had said.

PM Modi has not travelled to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit and is set to participate virtually.

The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit is being held in Kuala Lumpur from October 26 to 28.

The ASEAN-India dialogue relations started with the establishment of a sectoral partnership in 1992. This graduated to full dialogue partnership in December 1995 and summit level partnership in 2002.

The ties were elevated to a strategic partnership in 2012.

The 10-member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The two-way relations between India and ASEAN have been on a significant upswing in the last few years with focus being on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence. PTI ASK SKY SKY