Kalam seeks UAE investment in river-linking project

Monday, 20 October 2003, 19:30 IST
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DUBAI: Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to invest in India's river-linking project and also called for a cyber university to connect the two countries. Kalam, who is on his first foreign visit, suggested this during talks with UAE leaders in Abu Dhabi. He met Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi crown prince; Lt-General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the chief of the armed forces; and Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of state for foreign affairs. Welcoming the Indian president, Sheikh Khalifa said the visit would contribute to strengthening the historical relations between the UAE and India in various fields, particularly economic. Kalam expressed delight at his visit and his meeting with Sheikh Khalifa, lauding the progress achieved by the Gulf country in various fields under the leadership of President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Later briefing newsmen, Indian Minister IT Minister Arun Shourie, who is also visiting the UAE as part of the president's delegation, said discussions during the president's visit had led to talks on collaboration in various fields. These include India helping the UAE to use solar energy for desalination and establish a cyber university and UAE investing in Indian infrastructure projects like the inter-linking of rivers. Shourie said during talks with Sheikh Khalifa, they discussed collaboration in the use of solar energy for desalination. He said other areas for collaboration were chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals and contract research in these fields. The GCC-India Business and Industrial Summit to be held in Mumbai in February 2004 would be an ideal platform to pursue collaborative ventures, he said. The Indian president also visited the Higher College of Technology, where he suggested the idea of a collaborative cyber university. Speaking to UAE students in the college, President Kalam said for any country to achieve scientific advancement, there was need to give utmost attention to education. This is because no scientific advancement can be achieved without creativity and innovation, which come only through education, he said. Kalam urged students to be ambitious and dream of achieving what they wanted for themselves and their country. Giving a history of India's achievements in the field of technology and science, he said there was a need to give importance to agriculture and water as the main source of life for human beings and as the main source of industrial, economic and technological progress. Calling for efforts to lessen dependence on oil and gas, which do not last long, the president urged the need to look for and depend totally on renewable sources for social development. He suggested cooperation between the UAE and India to set up an IT university in Abu Dhabi for the benefit of students from Gulf states and India. He inaugurated a new e-library at the college's resource centre. Accompanied by Sheikh Nahyan, Kalam also visited the Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. He visited a rehabilitation centre, which is run by the Indian Women's Association. The centre provides services to physically and mentally challenged people.
Source: IANS