PM to visit Bengaluru on Aug 26 to congratulate ISRO team on successful Chandrayaan-3 mission
Bengaluru, Aug 24: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26, to greet the ISRO scientists and officials for the successful landing of Candrayaan-3's lander and deployment of rover on moon's surface.
The Karnataka BJP is planning a grand welcome for the Prime Minister by organising a mega road show in the city on his arrival, senior BJP leader and former Minister R Ashoka said on Thursday.
"PM Narendra Modi is coming on August 26. We will be receiving him in big numbers with more than 6,000 people at HAL airport. There, he might address the people of Bengaluru. Our (BJP) national leader Santosh ji (General Sec B L Santosh) just spoke to me to organise a mega roadshow in Peenya, I have spoken to Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju on this," he said.
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Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the Prime Minister has given the opportunity to the people of Bengaluru to share this joy with him.
"We the people of Bengaluru will give Modi a grand welcome, because ISRO means Benagluru and Bengaluru means ISRO. He is coming here to congratulate ISRO scientists," he added.
Though the details of PM's visit have not been shared, he is likely to visit the Missions Operations Complex at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here to congratulate the scientists and officials of the space agency.
PM Modi on Wednesday congratulated ISRO Chairman S Somanath on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and said he would soon visit them in Bengaluru to greet the entire team in person. He had a phone conversation with Somanath from Johannesburg, where he is attending the BRICS summit.
Before the phone conversation, he had virtually witnessed the landing and addressed ISRO scientists from Johannesburg.
Noting that the plan was to organise a roadshow of about 1 km near Peenya, Ashoka said at the airport too there will be a gathering of people to welcome the PM.
A meeting has been convened at the party office to discuss and finalise things, he added.
India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO's ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3's Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.
The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon last evening.
Earlier today, ISRO announced that the rover rolled down from the lander, stating "India took a walk on the moon."
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
