India not interested in space station

HYDERABAD: International space station (ISS) is perhaps the most important project as far as space exploration is concerned. In fact, for ISS members it is a launchpad for lunar and interplanetary missions. However, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists seem to be least interested in becoming a member of this prestigious project.

This was revealed by ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair during an interaction with the media.

About reports that India had approached Russia for membership of the exclusive group, Nair said ISRO had not initiated any dialogue with the Russians. “There is no such proposal from the scientific community,” he said.

Chief of Russia’s Federal Space Agency Gen Anatoly Perminov had created quite a stir a few days ago by his comments about ISRO’s entry in the ISS project. A report quoted him as saying that India, a serious space power, had approached Russia for membership of ISS and that its entry was being blocked by other ISS members.

However, Perminov told DNA he had been misquoted. “It’s true I use every occasion to stress the importance of expanding ISS membership. However, I never made any specific comments about India. Whatever has to happen between India and Russia will happen on a bilateral basis,” he said. Besides Russia, the project ISS includes NASA, Japanese space agency, European space agency and the Canadian space agency.