New Delhi, June 25, 2025 (ANI) : Union Minister Jitendra Singh lauded the successful liftoff to ISS by Axiom 4 mission piloted by Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and said that “Americans were keen to have Indian on board” . He also praised Shubhanshu Shukla and said “I am proud and more than that, we are also proud of the fact that they offered to have one of the Indians...When this Mission was being planned, it was about 2-3 years back, when PM Modi was on a visit to DC...Then the offer came that a Mission like this is being planned and they would like to have one of the Indians also on board. Incidentally, we had four Air Force officers who were already unergoing training for Gaganyaan...Shubhanshu being youngest of the four...So, the choice had to zero down on one of them. Finally Shubhanshu's name was picked up and standby was Nair (Group Captain Prasanth Nair). The Americans were equally keen to have an Indian onboard. In other words, it means that they, today more than ever before, realise the importance of India's potential, India's talent and India's capacity to contribute."The Union Minister also lauded India’s space sector revolution and said that “I think because of space, India's science capabilities have gained acceptance...Till a few years ago, science endeavours or science achievements hardly found any space in the mainstream media...Space has given us space in the media also."
