Pranab Mukherjee
From GovernIndia
Background
A well-respected figure within the Congress party, Mukherjee is often described as "a number-crunching politician with a phenomenal memory and an unerring survival instinct". He rose through a series of Cabinet posts to become the Finance Minister of India from 1982 to 1984. In a political career spanning nearly four decades, he has won many laurels. In 1984, he was rated as the best Finance Minister of the World according to a survey of Euromoney magazine. In 1997 he was voted Outstanding Parliamentarian. Currently he's in charge of External Affairs as well as Finance Minstry. The veteran leader played a central role in the implementation of the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.