It has been an incredible turnaround for India.
In 1991, New Delhi kick-started the economic reforms process owing mainly to the serious balance of payments crisis it was facing. Then, India -- just an inch away from defaulting on its loans -- had less than $2 billion in forex reserves (that would not even have taken care of three weeks' of imports) and had to pledge gold with the International Monetary Fund to get a loan to get out of the crisis.
Today, it is the IMF that has sold gold to India to 'borrow' money to loan to poor nations!
That is indeed irrefutable proof that the economic reforms that Manmohan Singh (the then finance minister and current prime minister) set in motion have borne fruit.
On September 18, 2009, the IMF's executive board approved gold sales strictly limited to 403.3 metric tonnes, representing one eighth of its total holdings.
India and China were seen as the likely buyers the IMF gold, given the two Asian giants' economic strength even in the face of the global recession that ravaged most economies.