Jairam Ramesh's book on P N Haksar an outstanding piece of scholarly work: Manmohan

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the latest book of Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on P N Haksar as a "truly brilliant and outstanding piece of scholarly work".

Ramesh also presented a copy of the book, "Intertwined Lives - P N Haksar and Indira Gandhi", to President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today.

Singh said he was sure "Haksar Sahib would have been very pleased on your assessment of his many achievements as a very distinguished public servant".

"I have read your book and I wish to congratulate you for a truly brilliant and outstanding piece of scholarly work," he told Ramesh in the letter.

The book released recently is the first full-length biography of Haksar, whom Ramesh described arguably as India's most influential and powerful civil servant who was Indira Gandhi's "alter ego" during her period of glory.

Drawing on Haksar's extensive archives of official papers, memos, notes and letters and using his unique personal knowledge of people and politics, Ramesh has presented a compelling chronicle of the life and times of a remarkable Indian who decisively shaped India's political and economic history in the 1960s and 1970s.