Kalam strengthened India’s defence: Prez

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

On board the Presidential Aircraft, July 29

President Pranab Mukerjee on Tuesday said former President APJ Abdul Kalam “strengthened” India’s defence and security while remembering his own interactions with the “Missile Man” since they first meet in May 1998 in the aftermath of the nuclear tests at Pokhran.

Kalam, who fathered India’s missile programme, died at Shillong in Meghalaya on Monday night following a reported cardiac arrest. Mukherjee, who was on a two-day visit to Karnataka, cut short his programme listed for Tuesday and flew back to Delhi.

Speaking to reporters on board the special VVIP jet, the President on being asked how he saw the role of Kalam in making India self-reliant in missile technologies, said: “He strengthened our defence and security capability.”

Mukherjee, who was Defence Minister during the first term of the Congress-led UPA alliance (2004-2009) remembered how he had first met Kalam in May 1998. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had invited Congress leaders to be briefed about the nuclear tests.

“Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and myself among others had gone. The technical aspects of the test were explained by Kalam. He was impressive in his presentation,” Mukherjee said. Kalam was the then Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.

Mukherjee recollected that his personal interaction increased with Kalam in 2004. “I had joined the government as the Defence Minister in 2004 He was the Supreme Commander of the forces. He was keen on the BrahMos missile (a supersonic missile). With his direct encouragement, we have the BrahMos missiles in all three services. It is even exported,” the President said.

Talking about the popularity of Kalam, Mukherjee said: “No President was ever loved so much… When he interacted with children, it seemed that he was one of them.”

Mukherjee compared Kalam’s popularity with that of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru saying: “Nehru got love and affection from children. Kalam looked like Nehru in another form.”

“Kalam became the first President after 1977 to be elected unopposed,” Mukherjee said while recollecting that he received a copy of the Missile Man’s book ‘Beyond 2020’. “He used to encourage me to read and write,” he said.