New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi sought to encourage ISRO scientists Saturday after the space agency lost communication with the Chandrayaan-2 lander in the small hours, saying the project had only strengthened India’s resolve to land on the Moon.
“Desh aapke saath hai, mai aapke saath hu (the country is with you, I am with you,” he said in an address at ISRO’s Bengaluru headquarters early morning.
“India stands with you with pride and gratitude,” he added, saying there will be a new “dawn” and a “brighter tomorrow” very soon.
“I can proudly say that the effort was worth it and so was the journey. The learnings from today will make us stronger and better,” said PM Modi.
The PM’s address came hours after Chandrayaan-2’s lander, Vikram, lost contact with ground control around 2.1 km from the lunar surface. The live coverage of the scheduled landing, for which PM Modi was present on the ISRO premises, was being viewed across India and the world.
‘Don’t lose hope’
Starting his address with chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, PM Modi said to ISRO scientists: “You are the ones who live for India and work towards its progress. It is because of your spirit that India stands proud.”
As ISRO chief K. Sivan broke down, the Prime Minister hugged him.
Pointing out that the entire nation was awake with them ahead of the awaited landing, PM Modi urged them not to lose hope.
“You have given your life for the country. You have sacrificed your life, your dreams for the country. I could understand you all last night. I could read the disappointment on your faces,” he added, “You all have not slept since so many nights. I wanted to meet and talk to you all.” He later shook hands with the scientists as he left the headquarters.
PM Modi reminded the scientists of ISRO’s many achievements, including sending 100 satellites into space in one go.
“To our scientists, I want to say, India is with you! You are exceptional professionals who have made an incredible contribution to national progress,” he said.
Modi said while India may have faced moments that “slowed us down”, the spirit remains intact and can’t be crushed.
“Resilience and tenacity are central to India’s ethos. In our glorious history, we have faced moments that may have slowed us down but they have never crushed our spirit,” he added.
“We came very close, but we need to cover more ground…. Learnings from today will make us stronger and better,” he told the scientists, adding, “The best is yet to come in our space programme. India is with you.”
ISRO has said it is analysing data to find out the reasons behind the communication breakdown, and details will be made public later.
Some words of encouragement also came from across the border in Bhutan, with the PM saying “we are proud of India”.
We are proud of India and its scientists today. Chandrayaan-2 saw some challenges last minute but the courage and hard work you have shown are historical. Knowing Prime Minister @narendramodi, I have no doubt he and his ISRO team will make it happen one day.
— PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) September 7, 2019
Also read: Very, very difficult to re-establish contact with Vikram Lander: ISRO Official