INDIA: Dr Manmohan Singh, widely tipped as India's prime minister designate after Mrs Sonia Gandhi stepped aside, has neither the glamour of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty nor its style.
But the 72-year-old, softly- spoken economist turned reluctant politician has what India needs the most at this crucial juncture - credibility and economic brilliance.
As finance minister in an earlier Congress administration headed by prime minister Mr Narasimha Rao in 1991, Dr Singh was instrumental in dismantling India's debilitating "licence raj" or state patronage to business houses and ushering in market reforms.
When the technocrat Sikh from humble beginnings in northern Punjab state took over as finance minister, India's economy was in a shambles, on the verge of bankruptcy.
The country's gold was pledged to a Swiss bank, having been airlifted to its vaults and it had an unsustainable fiscal deficit of close to 8.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, nearly double what it is today.
To add to its problems, there was a massive balance of payments deficit. India had just $1 billion in foreign exchange reserves, barely enough for two weeks' of imports.
Dr Singh coolly launched a series of long overdue market and financial institutional reforms and within three years India's economy was well on its way to recovery.
Dr Singh's biggest challenge came a year after becoming finance minister when a massive bank securities scandal erupted.
But his reputation for honesty and transparency helped him weather the storm.
He has also been governor of India's Central Bank besides holding a series of high profile World Bank posts.
He has remained a staunch supporter of the Gandhi family. His only public indulgence over the last two years has been to excoriate the annual budget.