London : Former British premier Tony Blair describes Manmohan Singh as "the wonderful Indian prime minister" in his best-selling memoirs titled 'My Journey'.
Blair, who interacted with Singh on several occasions during his tenure as the British prime minister from 1997 to 2007, says that Singh had advised him that Britain could not afford to be out of Europe.
Blair recalls meeting the Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew, who he described as 'the smartest leader I think I ever met'.
During the meeting, Lee told him that it was not realistic for Britain to be out of Europe.
Blair writes: "Much later, the wonderful Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh told me the same thing. The Chinese were too polite and formal to say it quite so plainly but it was obvious that's what they thought too". Manmohan Singh is the only Indian leader mentioned in Blair's memoirs. PTI
