'We dreamt on Earth, fulfilled on the Moon'

Modi says India's space mission will continue to break new ground, and help moon missions by other countries

- 

BENGALURU: The Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landing on the Moon is a clarion call for developed India, a sign that the country's space mission will continue to break new ground, a success that belongs to all humanity, and an event that will help moon missions by countries across the world, particularly the Global South, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a roomful of cheering scientists from the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) minutes after the historic event.

Modi, who is in Johannesburg for the Brics Summit, virtually joined the scientists gathered at Isro's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru to follow the final moments of the descent, and waved the Tricolour on the screen when it became clear that India had become the first country in the world to land on the lunar south pole.

In the minutes that followed, Isro chief S Somanath took to the mike, and said to the Prime Minister, "Sir, we have achieved soft landing on the Moon. India is on the Moon."