Former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday revealed that former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao had asked him to make preparations for nuclear tests, which were subseuqently conducted (at Pokhran) during the NDA government, headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Kalam was addressing the probationers at the National Academy of Direct Taxes (NADT) in Nagpur.

The former president said that in May 1996, he had received a call from Narasimha Rao asking to meet him at the earliest.

"When I met Rao, he asked me to proceed with the preparation for testing of the nuclear bomb. Subsequently, his (Congress) government lost power and when Vajpayee took over, Rao revealed the plans to him (Vajpayee). He also asked me to share the details with Vajpayee," Kalam said adding, "Later in May 1998, India conducted nuclear tests."

Kalam added that both the leaders had great courage to go ahead with the plan.

In 1995, Rao had decided to carry out the nuclear tests, the plans that were reportedly halted after American satellites picked up signs of preparations for testing at Pokhran. It was said that the then American president Bill Clinton exerted pressure on Rao to stop the preparations.

Finally, on 11 and 13 May 1998, during Vajpayee's tenure as the prime minister, India conducted the tests.

Member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), S C Jaini was the guest of honour at the programme. 88 officer trainees, including 28 ladies and one officer from the Royal Government of Bhutan, passed out on Wednesday.

They belonged to various all-India services, including Indian Forest Services (IFS) and Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer trainees were from 19 different states and 17 different mother tongues.

Uttar Pradesh topped the list, with 15 trainees followed by Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan (10 each). There were 39 engineers, five doctors,five veterinary surgeons and one dentist in the batch.

Director general of NADT, G G Shukla welcomed the guests.