India to submit Saarc satellite

proposal at next summit

NEW DELHI: Two months after
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi came out with the idea
of a South Asian Association
for Regional Cooperation
(Saarc) satellite, the government is readying a proposal for
the groups upcoming Kathmandu summit in November.
The contours of the proposal
have been kept closely guarded. I cannot talk about the
Saarc satellite at the moment.
It is not right on my part. I will
tell you later in an appropriate
time, Indian Space Research
Organisation (Isro) chairman
K Radhakrishnan told Deccan
Herald.

The communist nation in the

last three years launched two
satellites from Sri Lanka and
Pakistan and signed an agreement for a third launch.
In November 2012, the China Great Wall Industry Corporation ferried a 5 tonnes communication satellite from a Sri
Lankan private firm SupremeSAT (Supreme SAT-1) to the
orbit.
Though Colombo distanced
itself from the launch, President Mahinda Rajapaksas son
Rohita, played a key role in developing the satellite as he is the
technical director of the firm.

Modis idea of Isro taking a

lead on the Saarc satellite,
sources said, came in the wake
of an alert from the external
intelligence agency, Research
and Analysis Wing that warned
the government of China
boosting space cooperation in
DH News Service
Indias neighbourhood.