Vision India - APJ Abdul Kalam

DEVELOPED INDIA
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
The President of India
“I have three visions for India.
In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and
invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards.
The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the
Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not
done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not
grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life
on them.
Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is
that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we
started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and
nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a
developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are
among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth
rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being
globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a
developed nation, self- reliant and self-assured. Isn’t this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision.
India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up
to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be
strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go
hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr.
Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who
succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to
have worked with all three of them closelyand consider this the great opportunity
of my life.
I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project
director for India’s first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched
Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist.
After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India’s
guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission
requirements in 1994.
The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the
recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss.