On flight home, Kalam in a mood for follow-up

Interestingly, the President said even after he relinquishes his term and perhaps, slips back into an academic career, he would continue to campaign for Vision 2020.

On his return home, the President reiterated the success he had in garnering support from three countries for a UNSC seat as well as his pro-active stance in setting enhanced targets for bilateral trade, especially with Russia and Ukraine.

In his recapitulation for the media, he took care to mention some of the unconventional collaborations announced by him. They include:

• The initiative to launch an international youth satellite. He said India and Russia would shortly sign an agreement on this and added he had “marketed” the idea to leaders in the other three countries.

• He mooted the idea of having a youth exchange programme in each of the four countries. The idea is to have groups of up to 100 young boys and girls to be part of a bilateral interface.

• Other initiatives include the offer of setting up a large digital library in Russia as well as starting a scheme of cultural scholarships and exchanges with Iceland.

Evidently, the President has already ensured that several of these initiatives are followed up quickly. Thus, while in Switzerland and Ukraine, only areas of possible scientific and technological collaboration have been listed, some follow-up actions are already under way.

For instance, a team from ISRO stayed back in Kiev to finalise possible collaborations on missile technology. In Iceland, plans were drafted for a team of seismologists to visit India in a few months, for a joint exchange. The President referred to Iceland as “my beautiful Island” and is known to have arranged for a team of Indian horticulturists to transform a large tract of lunar landscape in Reykjvik.