Contrary to reports in some Indian TV Channels the successful Moon mission has not been trashed by the British media. The Times, the Telegraph, and even the Guardian and the BBC have acknowledged India’s success in joining the elite club of nations that have landed on the Moon. India is the first nation to land on the South Pole of the Moon, which is also widely reported. The US media coverage was complimentary. The usually anti India New York Times wrote that India’s success should be a blueprint for other countries to think big. The Washington Post, Telegraph, and Wall Street Journal all reported India’s success without any negativity. Kamala Harris, the vice president of the US, commented that the Moon mission was an incredible feat. She congratulated all the scientists and engineers involved. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated the historic landing on the Moons South Pole. Candance Johnson who is a global space technology veteran and investor said: ‘India’s successful Moon landing will inspire not only Indian youth but also young minds everywhere’ She praised India’s role in leading humanity towards new horizons. The British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis said, ‘ Badhai Ho’. He said it was a, ‘giant step forward for the whole world’. UK’S foreign secretary James Cleverly sent his congratulations too. UK’S Space Agency called ISRO’s achievement an incredible moment in History. The Director of Championing Space at the UK Space Agency also congratulated India on an amazing feat of engineering and perseverance. And the name of the director is Anu Ojhe OBE! It looks like Indians are everywhere! Now that India and the US are going to co-operate on space research, a day is not far when Indian scientists will be working with Indian origin scientists of the US. It looks like the world is becoming more and more India centric!
Regarding a few individuals who expressed their disapproval of India’s Moon mission, their main gripe was
1 India has so many starving people, and instead of sorting out poverty, India is spending money on vanity projects.
2 The UK should stop giving aid to India.
My reply to these missives was:
India makes a lot of money from its space projects.It has launched 5 payloads of Satelites for the UK. It was the heaviest commercial mission successfully launched using a launch vehicle assembled by the Indian Space Research Organisation.The other countries India has launched Satellites for are: Germany, S.Korea, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore, Luxemburg, France, Japan, Canada, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia and even the United States. So Space research earns India money it is not a vanity project. If all countries waited for the day when there was not a single poor person on the planet, there would be no progress. Regarding the aid, there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is tied up with your geo-political interests. India, too, gives a lot of aid to many countries. It was also the only country to give free Covid injections to many countries. Just listen to what the Jamaican politician had to say about India’s help during Covid. This shut them up. It is very important that the Indian community in the UK and people in India do not create ill feelings towards British people who are great admirers of Indian people. We have our PM Rishi Sunak leading the country. Sunak and Modiji will meet up soon to enhance friendship between our two nations. A false narrative can create negativity between the two countries and its people. People in India must know that the British people are not anti-India.
Nitin Mehta
28/8/ 2023
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