Latest news with #GlobalConferenceonSpaceExploration
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
PM Modi's recorded speech hints he locked May 7 for strike
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Pic credit: ANI) NEW DELHI: It is rare for PM Narendra Modi to send recorded messages. Equipped with impressive oratorical skills, he prefers to go "live". Yet, his decision to record his message for the Global Conference on Space Exploration on Wednesday, which had promised to be a normal day, suggests he had settled on May 6-7 as the date to avenge the mass killings of tourists in J&K's address, which was recorded on Tuesday, was played on Wednesday hours after India struck multiple targets in Pakistan and POK, and when the govt and the defence brass were reviewing the success and making preparations for possible retaliation by recording the speech, Modi dropped no hint of the impending strike. "India's space journey is not about racing others. It is about reaching higher together. Together, we share a common goal to explore space for the good of humanity," the PM said calmly, even when his mind may have been occupied with plans presented to him by the leaders of the armed PM also spoke about India's strides in the space sector, from launching a small rocket in 1963 to becoming the first nation to land near the south pole of the Moon. "Our rockets carry more than payloads. They carry the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians. India's achievements are significant scientific milestones. Beyond that, they are proof that the human spirit can defy gravity," he added. tnn
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Strikes steel PM Modi's iron man credentials
NEW DELHI: Two days after the Pahalgam terror attack , Narendra Modi gave a speech in Madhubani, Bihar. He vowed to "identify, track and punish every terrorist and his backer". In a speech given what turned out to be just hours before Operation Sindoor was launched, he struck a very different note. He touched upon Pakistan's perfidy, but limited himself to talking about pausing the Indus Waters Treaty That's Modi for you. Little did anyone know that before coming to Tuesday's event organised by a TV network, he had greenlighted the operation. With hindsight, his decision to record his speech for the Global Conference on Space Exploration on Wednesday morning showed he had already decided on the date for the easy to say now for everyone that a PM who greenlighted surgical strikes after Uri and the bombing of Balakot terror camp after Pulwama was always going to give an answer to Pahalgam. But in the two weeks between Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor, there were many, including opposition leaders, who questioned whether he would okay a kinetic response. More so because pretty much every world leader of any consequence was advising 'restraint'.But not for the first time, Modi upended several people's assumptions. This is the third time he's called Pakistan's nuclear bluff, and the third time he's shown that the earlier Indian govt thinking, summed up in the euphemism 'strategic restraint', was never going to constrain his was undeterred by pundits' concerns that a desperate Pak army chief, Gen Asim Munir, the maulvi in fatigues, could go to any extent to counter a punitive strike. He also proved wrong those who had reckoned that with the Indian armed forces already stretched thin since the Galwan clash with Chinese forces, and given the fear of China's communist bosses coming to the aid of their all-weather ally Pakistan, he would rein in his natural instinct to hit back precision strikes, while exposing Pakistan's nuclear blackmail for what it is, plain blackmail, helped him fully regain the 'jo kaha so kiya' plank and ' tough on national security ' Pahalgam attack, though an aberration considering the successful tackling of terror both within J&K and outside it, had cast a shadow on those credentials. Daily taunts from opposition leaders had demonstrated their willingness to target what they saw as a chink in Modi's armour. The absence of a decisive Indian response would have allowed opposition leaders to take that rhetoric further. The anti-BJP political narrative would have been centered around what the opposition would have termed as Modi's inability to live up to his own belief that India must cross the 'red line' in response to a Pak-sponsored terror nine precision strikes have washed away all doubt and with it, the opposition's story. Modi has again ensured that BJP retains the upper hand in security matters. The decision to share videos of the successful strikes involving 'niche' munitions was astute and left little room for significantly, Modi also appears to have prepared the country for the longer haul vis-a-vis security threats, boosting its risk appetite: something that was evident in the manner in which people shrugged off Pakistan's claims of losses for IAF and, also, in the way stock markets took the risk of escalation in their is vital. The task of making India's economy stronger - itself a vital national security advantage - won't be any less urgent even after massively raising Pakistan's cost of terror sponsorship. Modi will helm that job as a PM with even bigger political capital.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
India's space journey not about racing others, it's about reaching higher together: PM Modi
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said 'India's space journey is not about racing others, it is about reaching higher together. Together, we share a common goal to explore space for the good of humanity'.Addressing the Global Conference on Space Exploration (GLEX 2025) via a video message, Modi urged for collective growth via space exploration. 'India's space vision is grounded in the ancient wisdom of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam', that is, the world is one family. We strive not just for our own growth, but to enrich global knowledge, address common challenges, and inspire future generations,' he said India is marching ahead with renewed confidence in the field of space exploration and its astronauts' footprints will be on the Moon. 'By 2035, the Bharatiya Antariksha Station will open new frontiers in research and global cooperation. By 2040, an India's footprints will be on the Moon. Mars and Venus are also on our radar,' he said.'Our first human space-flight mission, 'Gaganyaan', highlights our nation's rising aspirations,' Modi said referring to the mission planned for early 2027 launch. He said in the coming weeks, an Indian astronaut will travel to space as part of a joint Isro-Nasa mission to the International Space Station. The Axiom-4 mission is slated for launch in the first week of June and Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others will undertake a 14-day sojourn to the orbital recalled that India's space journey started with the launch of a small rocket in 1963 and became the first nation to land near the South Pole of the Moon. 'Our journey has been remarkable. Our rockets carry more than carry the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians. India's achievements are significant scientific milestones. Beyond that, they are proof that the human spirit can defy gravity,' Modi India's space journey 'remarkable', he said, it reflects a 'declaration of curiosity, courage, and collective progress' rather than just a 'destination'.PM Modi listed space achievements like the successful Mars Mission Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, Chandrayaan-3, the launch of cryogenic engines, and satellite docking, calling them 'significant scientific milestones'. 'We continue to march ahead with renewed confidence, pushing the boundaries of scientific exploration,' he said.'We built cryogenic engines in a record time. We launched 100 satellites in a single mission. We have launched over 400 satellites for 34 nations on our launch vehicles. This year, we docked two satellites in space, a major step forward,' PM Modi said.
India Today
07-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Modi talks space on Operation Sindoor day, reveals space between India, Pakistan
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on Wednesday, just hours after India conducted its biggest anti-terror strike in Pakistan, highlighting India's aspiration for "collective progress", and exposing the gulf that lies between the two neighbours. Here, the PM's skipping the issue conveyed what a thousand words wouldn't have. PM Modi must have been in the war room as Indian forces carried out strikes deep inside Pakistani territory, and still receiving minute-by-minute updates on the impact and global reactions. But as he addressed the space-tech meeting, he was calm and poise personified, talking science and about India's ambitions. There was absolutely no hint of India's big military move just hours earlier and the confrontation that it had been threatened with by Pakistan. It also showed that India was more than capable of dealing with disturbances in the backyard while aiming for the stars. Modi said India's space journey is about "reaching higher together" rather than competing with others, even as he highlighted the several milestones India had reached on the final frontier. He was addressing the Global Conference on Space Exploration (GLEX) 2025 via videoconferencing. Just hours earlier, India targeted terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) in its biggest-ever, anti-terror strike -- Operation Sindoor. Wednesday's strike was in retaliation of Pakistani and Pakistan-trained terrorists killing 26 people in Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22. This was the biggest civilian casualty in a terror attack since the 26/11 Mumbai attacks of 2008. Other than the toll, what made the Pahalgam attack particularly barbaric was that tourists were shot from point-blank range in front of their family members. This was the first time since the 1971 War that India targeted sites in Pakistan's Punjab province. That, and the geographical spread of Operation Sindoor and the body count of terrorists make it unique. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the anti-terror strikes were "an act of war", and his government called the strikes "reckless action" that brought the two nuclear-armed nations "closer to a major conflict". Amid the threats of a major escalation, PM Modi appeared unflappable, even as he highlighted how India shared "a common goal to explore space for the good of humanity'. His composure showed a leader who was in control and efficient in multi-tasking. It was an emphasis on the age-old mantra of Bharatvarsha -- "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" or the world is one family. Living this mantra, India has launched satellites for South Asian nations. It is now preparing to gift a G20 satellite mission focused on environment and climate observation to the Global South. India has progressed and tried to help other countries, with medicines and vaccines during the Covid epidemic or rushing aid after natural calamities. Pakistan, on the other hand, has walked the path of terrorism and featured on the FATF list as a terror-financier. While India is surging ahead to become a top global economy, Pakistan depends on loans as its economy is in tatters. PM Modi recounted India's space achievements, like the Chandrayaan missions, and its ambitions, like the human spaceflight mission and Bharatiya Antariksh Station. He also highlighted the Nasa-Isro collaboration. With his statesmanship, PM Modi might have skipped any reference to the dastardly Pahalgam attacks or Operation Sindoor, but by talking space technology on such a crucial day, he exposed the gap of lightyears between India and Pakistan. The space between the two is visible to the naked eye, and doesn't need a high-powered telescope. Tune In
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
'Indian rockets carry more than payloads': PM Modi on space exploration
Indian rockets carry more than payloads, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, speaking on the country's space exploration ambitions on Wednesday. Addressing the Global Conference on Space Exploration (GLEX) 2025 via video call, PM Modi recounted India's successful missions and stated that by 2035, India will have its own 'Bharatiya Antariksha Station' (Indian space station). 'Space is not merely a destination but a declaration of curiosity, courage, and collective progress,' PM Modi said. 'Indian rockets carry more than payloads—they carry the dreams of 1.4 billion Indians.' He called India's space milestones 'proof that the human spirit can defy gravity". PM Modi recounted major missions including Chandrayaan-1's discovery of water on the Moon, Chandrayaan-2's high-resolution lunar imaging, and Chandrayaan-3's achievements at the Moon's South Pole. 'In 2014, India became the first country to reach Mars in its maiden attempt,' he said. 'We developed cryogenic engines in record time, launched 100 satellites in a single mission, and deployed over 400 satellites for 34 countries.' PM Modi went on to call India's recent breakthrough in satellite docking 'a major step forward in space exploration'. The Prime Minister cited practical applications such as fishermen alerts, railway safety, and weather forecasting. 'Space technology enhances governance, improves livelihoods, and inspires generations,' he said. India's space journey not about competition: PM Modi The Prime Minister noted India's role in regional collaboration through the South Asia Satellite. 'The G20 Satellite Mission, introduced during India's Presidency, will be a significant contribution to the Global South,' he said. 'Our space journey is not about competing with others, but about reaching greater heights together. It is about cooperation, not competition,' the PM said, adding that regional collaboration was going to be key in realising space goals. Indian astronaut will leave footprints on moon by 2040: PM Modi Speaking on India's future space ambitions, PM Modi said, 'An Indian astronaut will soon travel to the International Space Station as part of an Isro-Nasa mission... By 2035, we aim to have our own Bharatiya Antariksha Station. By 2040, an Indian astronaut will leave footprints on the Moon.' On India's growing space economy, the Prime Minister noted the growing number of space startups. 'We now have over 250 space startups. Many of our space missions are being led by women scientists,' he said.
