Sweden Ambassador calls ISRO's Venus mission "fascinating"

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Praising India's progress in space missions, Sweden's Ambassador to India, Jan THesleff, said that India is achieving what many other countries couldn't despite spending huge amounts of money, ANI reported.

He also described India's mission to Venus as "fascinating" and expressed strong hopes on it.

While speaking to ANI, Thesleff said, "It is (the Venus mission) fascinating. What India is doing. India is achieving so much, that other countries that spent much more budget cannot achieve. This really proves the talent of Indian scientists. We believe strongly in the Venus mission."

According to ANI, the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and the Indian Space Organisation (ISRO) are collaborating on a mission to planet Venus.

ISRO is planning to launch Shukrayaan-1, which is India's first Venus mission in 2025.

With the use of spectrometers, cameras, and radar, the mission will study Venus' surface and atmosphere. Shukrayaan-1 is going to explore the volcanology and geology of Venus and look for indications of life, ANI reported.

The envoy emphasized that innovation, sustainability, and the green transition form the foundation of India and Sweden's expanding collaboration.

"Sweden and India have a relation that goes far back, but more and more, there are a few pillars on which our relation is based. One is sustainability. The second is green transition, and the third is innovation. They all belong together because we need innovation to enable us to find a sustainable solution," Thesleff said to ANI.

He further stated that Sweden and India are "seeing eye to eye" on these issues, adding that "We need to create more energy efficiency and be able to produce things differently with less emission. And Sweden has technology. Sweden has innovations. And so does India. So in this marriage between the two countries, between the innovation communities of India and Sweden, we find really a strength. And that is what we are aiming for in the future."

According to ANI, The ambassador also spoke about his recent exploration of potential collaborations with Indian space companies, such as ISRO. He praised the Chandrayaan-s's historic achievement and affirmed strong hope in the future missions.

"I just came back from Bangalore the other day, and I was there with a space delegation. We had the first space industry days, Swedish companies--11 of them. We had meetings with ISRO, we met with many Indian companies to see how we can collaborate with India," he said.

"We are so impressed by the achievements, the Chandrayaan 3 mission and also the Chandrayaan 4 that is coming, and the Venus mission. And we feel that as Sweden is one of the few countries in the world and the only country in the EU who has a launching capability, we have a launching range in northern Sweden, and we feel that we have something to offer to India," he added.

The Ambassador further drew attention to the importance of immediate climate action, while quoting Mahatma Gandhi's words, "The future depends on what we do in the present". Thesleff emphasized that establishing a sustainable future demands a collaborative effort and immediate action.

"The great Mahatma Gandhi said that the future depends on what we do in the present. So if we want to have a good and sustainable future, we need to act now. We have to act sustainably. We need to find the climate action that is needed. We cannot wait for the future to come. We must shape it. And what Sweden wants to do together with India, and we do it day to day, month by month, year by year," the envoy further said.

Earlier, on September 25, Sweden State Secretary for Foreign Trade, Hakan Jevrell, met with ISRO Chairman and DOS Secretary, Somanath S, in Bengaluru to examine potential future collaboration opportunities in the area of optical ground stations, ANI reported.

According to ISRO official statement, "The ongoing interactions in the field of space between India and Sweden and potential future collaboration opportunities in the areas of optical ground stations, utilising Sweden's Esrange Space Center, exchange of experts for space research and participation in ISRO's future space exploration missions were discussed during this meeting, cited by ANI.