India’s Ambassador to the United States, Vinay Mohan Kwatra underlined the “long-standing and fruitful” space partnership between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), describing it as one of the most important pillars of India-US cooperation.
Speaking at the India-USA Space Collaboration event in Washington, which saw the participation of astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, Ambassador Kwatra said the gathering brought together “individuals with a space-centric view of Earth,” offering a refreshing departure from the routine bureaucratic world.
“We always have an earth-centric view of space. This is the first time we will have a space-centric view of space. We, India and ISRO and NASA have an excellent series of cooperation over a period of time,” Kwatra said.
Kwatra recalled that the India-US space journey began in the 1970s with initiatives such as the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), aimed at educational outreach. Since then, the partnership has expanded to multiple high-profile missions, including the Chandrayaan series, India’s signing of the Artemis Accords, and the joint NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission launched earlier this year.
“Looking ahead, India plans a manned moon mission and a space station between 2028 and 2035, and NASA will continue to be a vital partner…,” Kwatra said.
