Kalam calls for national mission on technological strength

Hassan, June 8 (UNI) President A P J Abdul Kalam today stressed the need for establishing an Integrated National Mission for building technological strength of the country backed by basic science research.

Speaking after dedicating communication satellite INSAT 4B to the nation he said, that the ''unique products of India, thus realised, would be sought after by many nations, even the nations who deny technology and the products''.

Stating that it would be a great challenge to the young space scientists, stressed that ''strength respects strength''. The President recalled various instances under which India was denied technology by the West. ''In a competitive environment of space world, marketing the launch services from India is becoming a challenging task, as the nation which supplies few components to the spacecraft has a say in their choosing the service provider,'' he said.

He said ISRO had attained the environment in which it could build the capability for designing, developing, producing and launching any type of rocket system, any type of spacecraft system, any type of launch complexes because of technology denials.

''Particularly, three incidents come to my mind. In 1973-74, when there was no MTCR in place, India was denied Beryllium product by USA. In 1998, when India became a Nuclear Weapon State, economic and technological sanctions were imposed. Recently, after Agni-III was successfully launched, PAN fiber sale to India has been suspended''.

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