Kalam strengthened India’s defence: President

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
On Board the Presidential Aircraft, July 28

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President Pranab Mukerjee on Tuesday said former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam strengthened the defence and security capability of India.

The President said this speaking to reporters on board the special VVIP jet while remembering his own interactions with the ‘missile man’ since they first met in May 1998 in the aftermath of the nuclear tests at Pokhran.

Dr Kalam, who fathered India missile programme, died at Shillong, Meghalaya, on Monday night following a cardiac arrest.

Mukherjee, who was on a two-day visit to Karnataka cut short his programme listed for Tuesday and flew back to Delhi.

The President, on being asked how he saw the role of Dr 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 Dr Kalam in May 1998. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had invited Congress leaders to a brief about the nuclear tests. 

“I, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi among others had gone. The technical aspects of the test were explained by Dr Kalam. He was very impressive in his presentation,” the President said.

Dr Kalam was the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister then.

Mukherjee said his personal interaction increased with Dr Kalam in 2004 when he joined the Government as the Defence Minister in 2004 and Kalam was the supreme commander of the forces.

“He (Kalam) was keen on the BrahMos missile (a supersonic missile). With his direct encouragement, we have the missiles in all three services. It is even exported,” the President said.

Talking about Dr Kalam popularity, Mukherjee said: “No President was ever loved so much by children and people…When he interacted with children, it appeared he was one of them.”

Mukherjee compared Dr Kalam’s popularity with the first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, saying: “Nehru had love and affection for children and Dr Kalam looked like Nehru.”

Mukherjee remembered receiving a copy of Kalam's book ‘Beyond 2020’.
“He encouraged me to read and write,” the President said.

“Kalam’s world was surrounded by his books, he would often write a poem on an occasion at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate and send it across to me," Mukherjee added.