Ghauri no cause for concern, says Kalam

RANCHI, April 26: Abdul Kalam, Defence Advisor to the Prime Minister, has said India has the capacity and the preparedness to manufacture al...

RANCHI, April 26: Abdul Kalam, Defence Advisor to the Prime Minister, has said India has the capacity and the preparedness to manufacture all sorts of nuclear weapons and “there is no reason to worry about Pakistan developing a surface-to-surface missile”.

Kalam told newsmen here that, “There is no need to worry about Ghauri, our defence preparedness is not so flimsy as to make us anxious about Pakistan developing a single missile”. Kalam said. India could produce any number of nuclear weapons if the need arose, the defence adviser to the Prime Minister added.

Kalam was here to visit the rural technological park set up at the neighbouring Angada block by the Society for Rural Industrialisation (SRI).He also visited the plants of the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) and held a meeting with the company’s top officials.

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Though reluctant to talk to reporters Kalam did spare sometime for them in the end. He, however, did not reveal the contents of his talk with HEC officials.

The Heavy EngineeringCorporation’s director personnel Major General Pinaki Ranjan Bose, however, told newsmen later that Kalam who was visiting Engineering Corporation after a gap of about 25 years was highly satisfied with the way its different plants were functioning. The HEC’s director personnel Major General Pinaki Bose quoted the Prime Minister’s defence advisor as having said that “it is quite clear that another Heavy Engineering Corporation cannot be created now."

"Those at the helm of affairs in the company must ensure that the glory of the giant unit is restored without much delay,” the scientist was quoted as having said.