Date:10/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/10/stories/2006021020831600.htm

National

I want to be remembered as a good fellow: Kalam

Amit Baruah

He wishes to bring smiles to billion people "Those who meet the President approach life with confidence"

NEW DELHI: "I want to be remembered as a good human being," President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said when asked how he would like to be known after the end of his Presidency in July 2007.

The President, who has repeatedly said he had no interest in seeking a second term and would like to begin teaching again, stressed the people of India should remember him as a "good fellow."

Talking to presspersons on board his special aircraft en route from Seoul to New Delhi, Mr. Kalam said his objective as President was to bring smiles to a billion people.

Reaching out to youth

The President, who made it a point to reach out to young people during his tour of South Korea, Philippines and Singapore, said that his foreign tour had gone off very well.

Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who travelled with the President, said Mr. Kalam's meetings with young people in India would bear fruit in the future. "Those who meet the President approach life with confidence," he said.

Sumitra Mahajan, Bharatiya Janata Party member of Parliament, described Mr. Kalam as a "non-political scientist and knowledge person", who had worked "above politics" during his innings as President.

A major success

Describing Mr. Kalam's visit as a major success, Congress MP Sachin Pilot said it had been a remarkable reaching-out to establish India's geo-political presence.

The President himself stated that all the three countries he visited wanted India and China to play an important role in both Asian development and Asian peace. "The political leaders of all three countries want India to be a partner," Mr. Kalam remarked.

Pointing out that India had a billion people and China had a billion plus population, the President said: "I told [the leaderships in the three countries] that we [India and China] are together."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received the President on return at Palam airport.