Launch of Chandrayaan-3 will raise level of India's international collaborations: Jitendra Singh

Jul 12, 2023

New Delhi [India], July 12 : Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that the launch of Chandrayaan -3 will raise the level of India's international collaborations including that between India and the United States.
Jitendra Singh was speaking at the grant launch event of the India-US Science And Technology Forum (IUSSTF) Artificial Intelligence And Quantum Technologies.
"I have the confidence to say that the launch of Chandrayaan-3 is going to raise the level of India's international collaborations including that between India and the US," MoS Jitendra Singh said.
Regarding the grant launch event, Singh said that the event was happening at a landmark point just two weeks after Prime Minister's famous visit to the USA and two days just before the launch of Chandraayan.
Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission and second attempt to make a soft landing on the Moon’s surface, is ready to take off on July 14 (Friday) at 1435 IST from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. It will be launched aboard the Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM 3).
Singh also said that India and the US are equal collaborators in technology.
"As it was evident from the recent visit of the honourable Prime Minister and the signing of the different agreements, while India looks up to the United States for collaboration, I have the courage to say the United States also looks up to us with equal enthusiasm," Jitendra Singh said.
Jitendra Singh said that the US looks at India as an equal collaborator and it was evident from the fact that one of the agreements between the USA would be soliciting Indian astronauts to accompany them to the International Space Station.
"When you are operating at an equal level, you have the zeal to grow equally, to share your best practices, the collaboration becomes meaningful, also becomes durable," he added.
Quoting Prime Minister Modi, Jitendra Singh said, "Al stands for America-India relation. Al also stands for artificial intelligence."
Speaking on India-US ties, Singh said, "Strengthening of the ties between any two countries from the 21st century onwards is also going to be technology-driven, not merely rhetoric driven. Chandrayaan has actually added value to this collaboration," Jitendra Singh added.
Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar exploration mission and second attempt to make a soft landing on the Moon’s surface. In a last-minute dry run, the ‘Launch Rehearsal’ simulating the entire launch preparation and process lasting 24 hours has been meanwhile concluded by the ISRO.