India and Nepal strengthen space cooperation ahead of Misri's Kathmandu visit

New Delhi: Marking a significant milestone in India-Nepal space cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bengaluru-based NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) for grant assistance for the launch of Munal satellite.

The satellite developed in Nepal, under the aegis of Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), will be launched on NSIL's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on a gratis basis.

The MoU was signed by Anurag Srivastava, MEA's Joint Secretary (North) and NSIL Director A Arunachalam.

NAST Secretary Rabindra Prasad Dhakal along with Chargé d'affaires of Nepal's Embassy in India Surendra Thapa and Antarikchya Pratishan Nepal (APN) founder Abhas Maskey were also present on the occasion.

Munal Satellite is an indigenous satellite developed in Nepal, under the aegis of NAST. Nepali space startup Antarikchya Pratishan Nepal has assisted the country's students in the design and fabrication of this satellite. The satellite aims to build a vegetation density database of the Earth's surface.

It was during External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar's visit to Kathmandu that the Munal satellite's Launch Service Agreement was exchanged between NSIL and NAST during the 7th meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission on January 4, this year.

The MoU signing took place just before Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's two-day official visit to Nepal, beginning Sunday at the invitation of Nepal's Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal.

According to the MEA, the visit continues the tradition of regular high-level exchanges between the two countries and reflects the priority India attaches to its relations with Nepal under its 'Neighborhood First' policy.

India and Nepal share an age-old civilisational, cultural and people-to-people connect, and bilateral cooperation between the two countries has further strengthened in recent years with continued momentum in high-level exchanges and major infrastructure and connectivity projects in Nepal having been completed and new ones undertaken with Government of India’s assistance.