India becoming self-reliant in space: Gaganyaan in 2027; full-fledged Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035

Agencies

August 15, 2025

New Delhi: India is working towards becoming self-reliant in the space sector and preparing for the launch of Gaganyaan, its indigenous human space flight mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.

Addressing the 79th Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort, he said India was also developing its own space station and recalled that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from a space mission.

"Our Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has returned from the space station. In the coming days, he is returning to India," Modi said.

The prime minister said it was a matter of pride that India has been making strides in the space sector and 300 start-ups were working only in this sector. "This is the strength of the youth of the country and our confidence in them," Modi said.

ISRO is working on India's first indigenous human spaceflight mission -- Gaganyaan -- which is expected to be launched in 2027.

The first module of India's own space station is planned for launch in 2028 and a full-fledged Bharatiya Antariksh Station by 2035.

Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 private space mission that lifted off from Florida on June 25 and docked at the International Space Station on June 26. He returned to Earth on July 15.

Along with three other astronauts -- Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) -- Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 18-day mission.

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In meeting with Zohran Mamdani, Trump repeats claim he stopped India-Pak war

Agencies

November 22,2025

New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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