Also Read | Manmohan Singh: The heterodox economistBorn in Jammu, Mahbub ul Haq made the opposite traverse to Manmohan Singh after Partition. Finally, there was Lal Jayawardena from Sri Lanka, respected for the part he played in the global development dialogue but mostly restricted by his country to non-specialist roles. Once they returned home with advanced university degrees, the apostles found themselves very near centres of economic policy. Patel, who preceded the apostles at Cambridge by some years, turned down the job, and Manmohan Singh got the nod as India’s Finance Minister. In the fractious politics of the Congress party, Manmohan Singh offered a quiet technocratic efficiency that few entitled dynasts could challenge.