What interest can there be today in my speech in honour of Dr Manmohan Singh? After all, he became prime minister of India back in 2004, was in office till 2014, more than 11 years ago now, and I am a former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany who ended her active political career more than four years ago. Why did I nonetheless find it appealing and rewarding to accept Upinder Singh’s invitation on behalf of the Manmohan Singh Trust?

First and foremost: it was a great pleasure to work with Manmohan Singh for almost 10 years.

Manmohan Singh was a very special personality. I felt this immediately in our first encounter. I think everyone who knew him felt something similar: he could captivate people, even though he did not appear dominant in either his demeanour or his speech. He was more than 20 years older. We met for the first time in April 2006 in Germany for the opening of the Hannover Messe, the world’s largest industrial fair at the time, at which India was invited as the partner country and Indian companies could thus present themselves to the global public.

What impressed me about Manmohan Singh was his alert and curious gaze, which radiated experience and openness in equal measure. He seemed both composed (‘in sich ruhend’) and gentle as well as determined.

As the first prime minister of India who was not a Hindu and belonged to the Sikh minority, he embodied the pride of a nation that seeks its equal in religious, ethnic and geographical diversity. He did this without losing many words over it. He radiated authority without seeming intimidating and gave me the courage to ask questions and conduct open conversations.

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In our conversations, he pointed out again and again, not reproachfully but firmly, the reservations emerging countries like India have about rich industrialised nations, including Germany. From then on, I engaged more closely with the conditions in emerging countries, including India, and the challenges these countries faced. In my political memoir, I describe how my view of the world sharpened through conversations such as those I had with Manmohan Singh.

On my desk in the Chancellery stood a globe, which served as geographical orientation during my phone calls with heads of government. At some point,........

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