How TN Seshan Helped APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Agni Missile Into A Success

TN Seshan is well known for his work of electoral reforms as the Chief Election Commissioner from 1990 to 1996. But less is known about the fact that he also served as the Cabinet Secretary, India¡¯s highest bureaucrat in 1989 during the tenure of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

It was in this position when he had some close associations with Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who was heading India¡¯s premier missile project for Agni near Chandipur missile test range in Odisha.

This is the story of the night of 21-22nd May 1989, just before the first successful test of Agni. It was recalled by Dr Kalam in his final book, Advantage India which I co-authored with him.

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That night, everybody related to Agni Missile system was in the assembly area watching the last pieces of the missile being joined together. They were already under tremendous stress as the United States and NATO were constantly pressurizing India to delay the launch.

Amidst this hustle and bustle, Dr Kalam, who was spearheading this project received a hotline call at 3:00 am in the early morning on the day of the launch. Because there were no mobile phones at that time and long-distance calling through wired telephones was a very tedious process, so, all the critical communications was via hotline.

Dr Kalam picked up the receiver and said, ¡®Hello¡¯.

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On the other end was his immediate boss, Dr V.S. Arunachalam, the scientific advisor to the Defence Minister and the Chief of Defence Research and Development Organization. Without getting into the formalities, he said, ¡®Mr. Seshan wants to talk to you. Be ready. I will call back in five minutes.¡¯

This short conversation left Dr Kalam with hundreds of questions. ¡®What would he wanted to talk to at 3:00 am in the morning?¡¯, wondered Dr Kalam.

T N Seshan was then the Cabinet Secretary. He was well-renowned bureaucrat who was known to handle complex affairs with acumen.

In those thoughts, as advised by his boss, Dr Kalam waited near the hotline phone occasionally shifting the glance to the large wall clock and then back to the missile parts being ferried around by his team. Five minutes passed, then ten and then fifteen. The wait was excruciating.

Then suddenly the phone rang.

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Dr Kalam immediately caught hold of the receiver and said, ¡®Sir!¡¯ Both Dr Arunachalam and Seshan were on the other end. ¡®Good morning, Kalam!¡¯, Sheshan greeted Dr Kalam. He reciprocated.

Once the short niceties were done, he immediately came to the point and firmly and slowly asked, ¡®Where are we on Agni?¡¯ Without giving Dr Kalam a chance to answer, he added, ¡®We are under tremendous pressure by the US and NATO to delay any impending missile test. There are strong diplomatic channels at work.¡¯

Then almost immediately he followed again with the first question, ¡®Kalam! Where are we on Agni?¡¯

It was a difficult question for Dr Kalam to answer.

Recalling the anxiety he was facing Dr Kalam wrote about the moment in our last book, Advantage India. ¡®My mind raced vast distances in the next few seconds. There were intelligence reports of US satellites fixing their gaze on us. I knew the US was putting increasing pressure on the Prime Minister and his office to delay the launch. Worse, there were reports that Chandipur might be struck with very bad weather in the next few days¡¯

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When he looked on the other side, there was his team. Hard-working, determined young men and women who were handpicked for this assignment about one decade ago. They had seen everything. Technology denials, evictions from other nations, tight budgets, media pressure and the frustration of restarting curtailed projects that had been shut down due to lack of critical apparatus. Their triumph stood in front of them¡ªa magnificent Agni, with a tricolour painted on it.

Dr Kalam calculated all his variables and then clearing his throat said, ¡®Sir, the missile is at a point of no return. We cannot turn back on the test now. It is too late.¡¯

Everybody on this call knew Agni was still three hours from launch. Dr Kalam expected to debate and a barrage of questions from his boss and Seshan. But to his surprise, as the sun prepared to rise and the hour hand of the large clock on the wall neared 4 a.m., Seshan replied, ¡®Okay,¡¯ and then with a deep breath and a pause. ¡®Go ahead.¡¯ The pressure on the Agni team was taken off by these words from TN Seshan.

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This was all he needed. With a heartfelt ¡®thank you¡¯, Dr Kalam immediately kept the phone back hoping it did not ring again till he completed the test.

Three hours later, on 22 May 1989, the Agni missile system was ignited.

¡®It was a flawless test of hope and aspirations of a bunch of young scientists who could not be deterred by any force on this planet. We had made history with the successful launch. The next day, there was a storm in Chandipur which partially destroyed our testing facility. But we all knew that we had already won the race for Agni,¡¯ remembered Dr Kalam. And TN Seshan had played the role of a boss by absorbing the pressure away from the scientist team. Thereafter, the two leaders retained a life-long friendship which continued into their eighties.

Srijan Pal Singh was a close aide and Advisor of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who accompanied him on his travels and assignment for many years right up to Dr Kalam¡¯s demise. He currently runs the Dr Kalam Centre in memory of Dr Kalam. The above story is derived from the last book of Dr Kalam, Advantage India.