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NUCLEAR PACIFIST: Kalam believes India's N-bomb will ensure
peace
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Q. What is your reaction to your selection as NDA nominee for President?
A. I am overwhelmed by the gesture. Being the President of India is
an onerous task.
Q. Many say you are being made president because of your religion.
A. Really? To be honest I never thought of it that way at all. I have
always regarded myself as an Indian.
Q. What sort of a role would you like to play?
A. For any president the major task is thinking of the best way to
integrate the nation. While speaking to 3,000 children in Porbandar recently
a young girl asked me what my message was to them. I told her that our
minds should be embedded with thoughts of the nation and that the nation
is always bigger than the individual. I think that message is relevant
here too.
Q. Does being a scientist equip you in any way to perform your new
duties?
A. No doubt, this will be a new type of mission. But essentially it
is all about leadership and that is something we were trained for, even
if the missions may have been different. We had a systems approach of
careful analysis, design and integration that is relevant for any type
of task. Also, we were not confined to conducting scientific research.
We looked at the overall development of the nation.
Q. But you have never handled the intricacies of politics.
A. My own definition of politics is that it is all about creating
leaders to evolve policies that will take the country to higher levels.
It is a multi-dimensional leadership that focuses on the nation's economic,
social an political development. If you look at politics through this
perspective then everything falls into place.
Q. How do you view the current tensions between India and Pakistan?
A. I have not had time to study this thoroughly. All I would like
to say at this moment is that India is a strong nation. That its strength
doesn't come just from its weapons, but from its economic development
and maturity in politics.
Q. As president you would have to do things you never really enjoyed
doing-like dressing formally and hosting formal dinners. Are you ready
to change?
A. (Laughs) Let us say it will be a new experience. Besides, you can
achieve a lot of work even while having dinner.
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CURRENT
ISSUE JUNE 24, 2002
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