“His contribution to national building will be remembered”: PM Modi pays tribute to former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

New Delhi [India]: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tribute to former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on his 92nd birth anniversary.

The Prime Minister praised Kalam for his exceptional scientific talent and how he was loved by the people for his humble behaviour.

“Heartfelt tribute to former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who was loved by the people for his humble behaviour and exceptional scientific talent, on his birth anniversary. His incomparable contribution to nation-building will always be remembered with reverence,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

As an aerospace scientist, Kalam worked with India’s two major space research organisations – the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

He directed the project to develop India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV). Back in the 1980s, when India had hardly dreamt of having its indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV), Dr Kalam’s over 10-year-long hard work as the project director for the development of the indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle at ISRO led to the ground-breaking scientific development.

Kalam also headed the projects Devil and Valiant which had the aim of developing ballistic missiles using the technology behind the successful SLV program. Under mission Kalam with other projects, members developed many missiles including AGNI which is an intermediate-range ballistic missile and PRITHVI which is a surface-to-surface missile.

Serving as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the then Prime Minister, Kalam played a major role in heading the Pokhran-II nuclear testing leading to him being known as the best nuclear scientist of the country at that time. The nuclear testing under the supervision of Kalam during the period of July 1992 to December 1999 made India a nuclear-armed state.

Kalam breathed his last on July 27, 2015, while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong when he collapsed and died from a cardiac arrest.

His contributions are still remembered as some of the best scientific and technological developments in the country.