Singh takes over as India PM

The hero of India's economic reforms, Manmohan Singh, took over as prime minister of India yesterday, completing the return of the venerable Congress Party to power after a shock election win. A team of 67 ministers was also sworn in to form a left-leaning government to replace the Hindu nationalists who were voted out. Their portfolios will be announced today, local reports said.

Singh was named prime minister after Congress's Italian-born leader Sonia Gandhi declined the job following attacks by Hindu nationalists over her foreign birth.

President Abdul Kalam administered the oath of office to members of the new government, watched by Gandhi, her two children and scores of political leaders and officials. Of the ministers, 28 were of cabinet rank, including former finance ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P. Chidambaram.

Singh, 71, kicked off India's economic reforms more than a decade ago when he was finance minister in a previous Congress government.

Singh, a Sikh and India's first non-Hindu prime minister, took the oath in English. Kalam, the head of state, is a Muslim, which means both India's top two officials are from minority communities.

In intense negotiations over the past few days, the coalition, the United Progressive Alliance, has managed to resolve a row over ministerial positions and is close to finalising a policy agenda, party officials said. Markets have been volatile, fretting over how the disparate alliance will pull together on policy issues and worrying that the country's crucial economic reforms may be derailed.

A draft of the Common Minimum Programme, the bedrock of government policy, stipulates the new government will drive towards an annual 7-8 per cent expansion in the economy and increased investment in agriculture, D. Raja, a Communist Party of India leader, told Reuters. The government will encourage foreign investment and reduce the fiscal deficit but slow down privatisation of state firms, other party officials said.

There were few surprises in the policy agenda, which also called for deeper ties with the United States and promoting friendly ties with neighbours, including old enemy Pakistan.

At least 18 regional, socialist and communist parties have pledged to support the coalition. The communists have said they will not join the government but the others have been jockeying for ministerial positions.

Singh has pledged to give top priority to the nascent peace process with nuclear neighbour Pakistan. The rivals are due to hold talks on nuclear confidence-building measures next week. But analysts have questioned whether Congress was willing to offer concessions Pakistan wants over the divided state of Kashmir, the cause of two of their three wars.