Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said that the world is praising India for "taking the leadership role" and not following anyone's footsteps.
"Today the world is praising India for taking the leadership role. The time has ended when India was expected to follow what other nations do," Jitendra Singh told ANI Sunday.
Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi for leading India on the path of development, Jitendra Singh said, "People of the country understood that PM Modi has walked the talk and led India to the path of development. The Amrit Kal program today will set the tone for the next 25 years."
On India's achievements in the space sector, the Minister said, "We had no dearth of talent, of capability in our country. Our citizens, our scientists had the talent and the dream. We started our space program from the time we had less resources at our disposal. Vikram Sarabhai used to take things on his cycle since he had no car."
Jitendra Singh also batted for the entry of private players in India's space program, "After PM Modi came, private players came into being and industry was allowed to participate. During the launch of Aditya-1, we saw that though ISRO executed the mission several organisations across the country helped in making the mission successful, whether in manufacturing or technology."
Earlier in the day, Jitendra Singh launched the 'Meri Maati Mera Desh' campaign at Tikri-1B Panchayat here, which is part of Amrit Kalash Yatras all over the country.
The Amrit Kalash Yatras include the collection of soil and rice from every household symbolising the participation of the people in the prosperity of the motherland.
During the inauguration, Jitendra Singh said that India's recent space marvels have only been possible under PM Narendra Modi who has opened up new vistas for India's space sector through the public-private partnership model and now the 'sky is not the limit' dictum has become true for India's space sector.
The last nine years have witnessed a quantum jump in India's space journey, making India standing at par with NASA, and Roscosmos, among others, which are now collaborating with ISRO for space expeditions, Jitendra Singh added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
