President Biden congratulates PM Modi, ISRO scientists for success of Chandrayaan-3, Aditya L-1 missions

New Delhi: US President Joe Biden on Friday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing at the South polar region of the Moon, as well as the successful launch of India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1. 

Having set a course to reach new frontiers across all sectors of space cooperation, the leaders welcomed efforts towards the establishment of a Working Group for commercial space collaboration under the existing India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group, the White House said in a statement.

"Determined to deepen our partnership in outer space exploration, ISRO and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have commenced discussions on modalities, capacity building, and training for mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024, and are continuing efforts to finalise a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023," the statement read. 

"India and the United States also intend to increase coordination on planetary defence to protect planet Earth and space assets from the impact of asteroids and near-Earth objects, including US  support for India’s participation in asteroid detection and tracking via the Minor Planet Center," it added further. 

The two leaders sat down for a bilateral meeting in the national capital, ahead of the G20 Summit starting Friday.

The talks were held at PM Modi's official residence — 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi — and covered wide-ranging issues focussing on deepening bilateral ties. Speaking on the meeting, PM Modi said that the friendship between India and the US will continue to play a great role in furthering global good.

“Happy to have welcomed @POTUS @JoeBiden to 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. Our meeting was very productive. We were able to discuss numerous topics which will further economic and people-to-people linkages between India and USA. The friendship between our nations will continue to play a great role in furthering global good,” PM Modi posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Meanwhile, the 18th G20 Summit is being held at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

A Leaders Declaration will be adopted at the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit.
(ANI)