New Delhi / PM Narendra Modi Pays Tributes to Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on his Birth Anniversary

PM Modi said, “Shri Kalam had a vision of Strong and Modern India in the 21st Century and strived his entire life to achieve it. His exemplary life is an inspiration to every Indian”.

डॉ. एपीजे अब्दुल कलाम जी को उनकी जयंती पर विनम्र श्रद्धांजलि। उन्होंने 21वीं सदी के सक्षम और समर्थ भारत का सपना देखा और इस दिशा में अपना विशिष्ट योगदान दिया। उनका आदर्श जीवन देशवासियों को सदैव प्रेरित करता रहेगा।

India salutes Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Ji on his Jayanti. pic.twitter.com/PPgPrkqQRG

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 15, 2019

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul served 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007 with the support of both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the then-opposition Indian National Congress.

Widely referred to as the "People's President", he returned to his civilian life of education, writing and public service after a single term. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

He spent the next four decades as a scientist and science administrator, mainly at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and was intimately involved in India's civilian space programme and military missile development efforts. He thus came to be known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology.

He also played a pivotal organisational, technical, and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.

While delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, Kalam collapsed and died from an apparent cardiac arrest on 27 July 2015, aged 83.