In a strong disapproval of the politics of religion, President A P J Abdul Kalam on Thursday called for a moratorium on issues that impede the nation's development.

In his Independence Day eve address to the nation, the President Kalam asked, "Will be remembered for how many churches, mosques, temples or gurdwaras our generation has added?

"No, not at all. We will be remembered only if we give to our younger generation a prosperous and safe India, resulting out of economic prosperity."

The President appealed to political leaders, religious leaders, opinion makers, media personnel and citizens to impose a moratorium on all issues, which impede development.

Apparently referring to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's recent peace initiatives with regard to Pakistan, the President said, "India has definitely taken a significant peace initiative with all its neighbours. The recent visit of our prime minister to China definitely paves the way for resolving certain outstanding issues."

In a veiled message to Pakistan, he said in a situation where there will be acute shortages of water, energy and minerals, neighbouring countries must understand that no single nation will be able to handle these problems by itself.

"In such a situation, the present reasons for conflict will become insignificant and unwarranted," he said adding the recent terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir through suicide bombings, in which both security personnel and civilians suffered, was a cause for concern.

"No religion has mandated killing others as a requirement for its sustenance or promotion. These cowardly acts, borne out of utter frustration, deserve severe condemnation and actions to prevent recurrence of such events."

The President recalled his visit to Jammu and Kashmir when three students belonging to Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities asked him when India would become prosperous, free from poverty and from the fear of terrorist attacks.

"Allow us to go on a mission to penetrate the minds of the extremists and bring about unity of minds," the children told him, inspiring him to write a poem.

Kalam recited his poem: Light the minds of the religious leaders of my country to evolve a bridge among religions with compassion and love. Embed the thought - Nation is bigger than the individual or party - in the minds of the leaders. May God bless my people to work hard and transform the country into a prosperous nation.

Kalam said people must prioritise their thoughts on national development and render all else as 'non-issues'. This, he said, would ensure focus and thrust on development and prevent dissipation of energy and resources on non-productive issues.

Appealing for a moratorium on contentious issues in favour of development, he said, "This will be the greatest legacy that we can proudly leave behind for our next generation. Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow."

Emphasising on the need to evolve and develop specific integrated missions sector-wise to take the country forward on the path to self-sustaining development, the President said these would provide the thrust for the realisation of a developed India in a time-bound manner.

He spelt out five specific missions to provide large-scale employment opportunities for the youth through the creation of various types of industries and enhancement of national infrastructure. They are - Networking of rivers, quality power, providing urban amenities in rural areas (PURA), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Tourism.

Networking of rivers would eliminate the periodical problem of droughts and floods and provide both water and power security.

"The nation has to embark on water harvesting and desalination of seawater as national missions," he said adding there was a need for quality power at an affordable price, which is a key to economic growth.

"We need to give thrust to sustainable energy resources like bio-mass, wind and solar farms of 800 to 100 megawatt capacity and to efficient transmission and distribution."

The third important mission is to provide urban facilities in rural areas as in the long term it was necessary to make living in villages an attractive proposition. He stressed on the need to enrich village life and for this it was essential for reputed leaders and social workers to administer an oath to villagers to refrain from gambling and alcohol and stress upon the need to educate their children, male and female.

The President said there was need to embark on creating Information and Communication Technology infrastructure and achieve a competitive edge globally.

As for the fifth mission, Kalam said, "If we promote sustainable tourism, it will become India's core competence."

He said transforming the Developed India 2020 vision into a mission was a national challenge that requires nationwide participation. "While my government is committed to such missions, every citizen of India should ask in what way he or she can contribute to these missions directly or indirectly. It is difficult to spell out all specific possibilities of tangible contribution by our citizens," he said.

"Actions emanating from the government in all its public dealings should become fully transparent through e-governance," Kalam said adding parliamentarians and legislators from each constituency should become mission facilitators for their constituency and also resolve inter and intra-constituency conflicts.

If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, there are three key societal members who can make a difference. "They are the father, the mother and the teacher. Let us join together and launch this movement from the home and the school to eradicate corruption," the President said.