P Chidambaram's profile at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit

P Chidambaram, Finance Minister, India

P Chidambaram, the Finance Minister of India in the Congress-led UPA government (2004-2009), was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 from Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu, the constituency from which he was first elected in 1984.

An MBA graduate from Harvard, Chidambaram, who started as a leftist, went on to be an architect of the Congress government's economic reform strategies as Rajiv Gandhi's right hand man.

He was also a finance minister in the United Front government in the mid 90s. An able administrator, he has handled different ministries since 80s.

Dr. Manmohan SIngh's Profile at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India

Dr. Manmohan Singh, much before taking over reins of the country, was the architect of India's 1991 liberalisation policy. He brought about a revolutionary change in the way the country's state-directed economy was run.

In 1991 PV Narasimha Rao invited him to become the Finance Minister at a time when the country had an unsustainable fiscal deficit of close to 8.5 per cent of the gross domestic product - almost double of what it is presently. The balance of payment deficit was dauntingly large.

The foreign exchange stood at just a billion dollars and India was on the brink of defaulting on the repayments of its international loans. The country was on the verge of bankruptcy. He took the initiative and single-handedly spearheaded change of which there was a crying need. With the Prime Minister's backing, he brought in reforms that liberalised India's economy.

Hailing from a simple family, he acquired a world-class education and became an economist with a vision to eradicate poverty. He has also been a professor and a civil servant before turning to his high profile roles as RBI Director, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, Finance Minister and now, Prime Minister of India.

He became India's fourteenth Prime Minister on May 19, 2004. He is one of India's famous intellectuals, a man of rare integrity and honesty and a quiet but courageous demeanour. He has been conferred with 'Honest Man of the Year' award in 1996 for his clean image.