| Presidency of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam | |
| President: | A. P. J. Abdul Kalam |
| President Link: | President of India |
| Party: | Independent |
| Election: | 2002 Indian presidential election |
| Seat: | Rashtrapati Bhawan |
| Predecessor: | K. R. Narayanan |
| Successor: | Pratibha Patil |
Presidency of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was started from 25 July 2002 when Abdul Kalam took oath as the eleventh President of India.[1]
In 2002, soon after assuming office, the President announced his decision to visit the state of Gujarat, which had been struck by an earthquake as well as deadly riots.[2] In his book Turning Points, Kalam wrote that he undertook the visit despite Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's objections.
In 2006, Kalam became the first President to return a bill, when he returned the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2006 bill to parliament for reconsideration.[3] [4]
Kalam opposed capital punishment, and sent back nearly 50 cases of capital punishment for reconsideration, listing out reasons why clemency should be considered in each case.[5]
He commuted one death sentence, and rejected only one mercy petition (that of Dhananjoy Chatterjee, who was executed in 2004).[6]
| 2003 | United Arab Emirates | [7] | ||
| Sudan | ||||
| Bulgaria | ||||
| 2005 | Switzerland | |||
| Iceland | ||||
| 2006 | Philippines | February | ||
| South Korea | ||||
| Myanmar | [8] | |||
| Mauritius | ||||
| 2007 | France | [9] | ||
| Greece |