President Maitripala Sirisena on Friday congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the successful launch of the South Asian Satellite from India for the benefit of all SAARC countries. The South Asia Satellite, an example of South Asian regional cooperation in the space sector, was launched on Friday by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from Sriharikota, India.
Joining this historic moment from the President House in Anuradhapura via video conference, President Sirisena said the launch of the South Asia Satellite is a milestone and an unparalleled opportunity for growth and development of aviation and cooperation among SAARC countries.
He also commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his commitment and dedication to strengthen relations among the SAARC nations. Following the launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by leaders from South Asian countries participating in the project - President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani; Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina; Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay; President of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen; Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’; and , President of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena in an video-conference to mark the launch.
The Indian Prime Minister said that the launch of the South Asia Satellite marks the fulfillment of India’s commitment and also the beginning of the journey to build the most advanced frontier of our partnership. He said that the project will touch the lives of the people of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India through regional cooperation in the area of space technology applications such as telecommunication and broadcasting, tele-medicine, tele-education, e-governance, banking/ATM services, cellular back-haul, meteorological data transmission, disaster response and networking of academic and research institutions.