Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has found support on the Indo-US nuclear deal from former President A P J Abdul Kalam who described it as 'unique.'
"It is unique, what he has done," Kalam said on NDTV's Walk the Talk programme when asked whether the prime minister can be complimented for having clinched the deal.
Kalam's endorsement comes at a time when the Left parties have again upped their ante against the deal and warned the government of facing a 'crisis' if it went ahead with its operationalisation.
Asked whether he thought scientists opposing the deal were going too far, Kalam, who demitted office in July, evaded a direct response.
"Fortunately, in our democratic set-up, scientists can always approach at the highest level," he said.
Kalam said he had met the prime minister before 'finishing his assignment (as President)' and highlighted the importance of thorium reactors.
'I told the prime minister that thorium reactors are very important,' he said, adding that the prime minister too agreed that progress must be made on that front.
Expressing anguish over the repeated turmoil in the Parliament, Kalam said, 'Parliament has to function. There may be lot of differences, but Parliament has to function. When the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha are in session, people watch, particularly young people. Those in Parliament have to be role models for them.'
Kalam was candid on being asked whether he thought his decision to return the Office of Profit Bill to the Parliament had cost him a second term in office.
'Well, I do not care about it. That is not the issue. What I am concerned about are the people. The people were after me (for a second term). So I had to consider that,' he said.
The former President, who has now taken up the teaching profession, made it clear that he had no regrets when the words were doing the rounds that he would contest the presidential election if there was a consensus.
'Consensus, I stick to that,' he said.
Kalam had good words for both Manmohan Singh and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who led the NDA regime.
'Each of them has a unique core competence,' he noted.
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