PM Modi meets Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla after historic Axiom-4 mission return

New Delhi: Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who scripted history as part of the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Monday, shortly after returning to India.

In a video shared by ANI, Shukla was seen warmly greeting the Prime Minister with a handshake and a hug before showcasing snippets of his space journey on a tablet. The visuals also captured the two holding the Indian national flag that had travelled with Shukla aboard the orbital laboratory. The astronaut also presented PM Modi with a special memento commemorating the Axiom-4 mission.

Shukla returned to Earth on July 15 after completing an 18-day stay aboard the ISS and had been in Houston, Texas, to reacclimatise to Earth’s gravity. He arrived in New Delhi on Monday, where he was received at the airport by Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. A cheering crowd of visitors welcomed him as he smiled, greeted supporters, and posed for photographs.

Senior officials from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), including Chairperson Dr. V. Narayanan and DK Singh, Director of the Human Spaceflight Centre, were also present at the airport. Group Captain Prashanth Nair, Shukla’s back-up crew member for the Axiom-4 mission, was part of the reception as well.

Shukla’s mission is being hailed as a landmark in India’s growing space ambitions, adding fresh momentum to the country’s human spaceflight programme.