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D r APJ Abdul Kalam, the father of India’s integrated guided missile program, states three visions for India based on the achievements and progress that he has witnessed in the history of the nation and during his own career, as a missile scientist. Dr Kalam’s three visions for India are FREEDOM, DEVELOPMENT, and STANDING UP. The focus of his presentation is on developing India to its fullest potential, while standing up to the rest of the world with fully validated selfrespect for the achievements that have been obtained in the modern times. If we are not free, no one will respect us. I have three visions for India. In 3,000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our land and conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards the Greeks, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch - all of them came and looted us and took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture and their history, nor tried to force our way of life on them. Why ? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision for India is FREEDOM. I believe that India had its first vision of freedom in 1857, when we started the War of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us. My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For 50 years, we have been a developing nation. It is time to see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among the top five nations of the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); we have 10 per cent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling and our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation self-reliant and self- assured. Isn’t this right ? India must stand up to the world I have a third vision, that India must STAND UP to the world or no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power, but also as an economic power- both must go hand -in - hand. Why are we in India so embarassed to recognize our own strength, our achievements ? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories, but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the second largest producer of wheat in the world. We are the second largest producer of rice. We are the first in milk production. We are number one in remote sensing satellites. Look at Dr Sudarshan, he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements, but our media is obsessed only with bad news and failures and distasters. Do we not realise that self- respect comes with self- reliance? I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid farm and granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments and deaths were inside the newspaper, buried among other news. Isn’t it possible in our country? I want to live in a developed India Another question : Why are we, as a nation, so obsessed with foreign things ? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts, we want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported? Do we not realise that self-respect comes with self-reliance ? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied, “I want to live in a developed India.” For her, you and I will have to build this developed India you must proclaim!