In a video message, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov congratulated India and wished its people peace and prosperity, while recalling the decades of cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi.
“Dear friends, today the Republic of India is celebrating its 80th Independence Day,” Dubrov said.
The cosmonauts also linked the occasion to the 65th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human to travel into space, ANI reported.
Gagarin visited India in November 1961, becoming an early symbol of the growing friendship between India and the Soviet Union. The cosmonauts recalled his remarks praising India, saying the country looked beautiful from space but was even more beautiful on Earth as the home of “true friends”.
From Aryabhata To Gaganyaan
The message highlighted key milestones in India-Russia space cooperation, which dates back to 1975, when the Soviet Union launched Aryabhata, India’s first satellite.
The partnership reached another landmark in 1984 when Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel into space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11.
Cosmonaut Anna Kikina said the cooperation has now entered a new phase with India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme. Indian astronauts, or Gaganyatris, have undergone training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia as part of preparations for India’s first crewed space mission.
‘Long Live India-Russia Friendship’
The cosmonauts also referred to a joint competition organised by Roscosmos, its office in India and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to mark bilateral space cooperation. Winning entries were displayed alongside the Independence Day greetings.
Holding the Indian flag aboard the ISS, cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev concluded the message with a salute to the enduring ties between the two countries.
“Long live India-Russia friendship,” he said.
