Thiruvananthapuram: Former president A P J
Abdul Kalam on Tuesday said India should come out of the "sixth
nation syndrome" and aspire to achieve the highest position in
every field to fulfil the goal of a fully developed power by
2020.
"In every area, whether in nuclear energy or space, India
is suffering from the `sixth nation` syndrome...It is high
time that we think and work to free ourselves from this mental
shackle," Kalam said during an interaction with the employees
of BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvanthapuram Ltd (BATL) here.
He, however, expressed happiness that supersonic cruise
missile BrahMos, a joint venture with Russia, was the number
one in the world. "I am very happy that we have broken out of
this syndrome in this area," he said.
It is crucial to maintain the competitiveness in all
sectors as today`s world is a highly competitive one where it
is difficult to predict what would happen tomorrow. Instead of
focussing on making products for defence and space programmes,
BrahMos should also diversify into civil areas, especially in
nuclear and solar energy sectors, Kalam said.
"As India has set a target of increasing its nuclear
power capacity from 7000 MW to 20,000 MW in the next five
years, BrahMos even could think of entering into an MOU with
Atomic Energy Commission for taking up their works," he said.
This way BrahMos could multiply its annual turnover from
the present Rs 30 crore to Rs 250 crore in the next five
years, he added.
Replying to a question from a BATL employee on Indian on
moon, Kalam said, "Whatever you do on the moon should be to
establish that the moon belongs to entire humanity...I do not
want moon to be the property of one country or another. It
should be for entire humanity."
Since the earth was going to face a severe space problem
with increasing population, the moon would be the nearest
additional space available, he said.
In this context, it was important that India`s
Chandrayaan Mission had established traces of water on the
Moon, he said, adding that now it is important to think in
terms of Earth, Moon and Mars as one complex.
Earlier, Kalam had a look at the systems and components
developed by BrahMos including those for GSLV and air borne
version of BrahMos missile.
Chairman and MD of BrahMos Aerospace A Shivathanu Pillai,
and former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair accompanied him.
PTI
