Moonstruck! Indian Americans Celebrate

WASHINGTON, DC (IANS) – It was a ‘proud and historic day’ for India’s 32 million-plus strong diaspora, which stood in unison with their mother country amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’, as the nation conquered the moon on August 23 with its historic Chandrayaan-3 mission.

From holding special screenings of the landing event to saying prayers and distributing sweets, the loud cheers on the mission’s success could be heard from the community.

With the flag in their hands, Indian Americans gathered at Times Square in New York to celebrate the event.

“Congratulations to India for the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the southern polar region of the moon. It’s an incredible feat for all the scientists and engineers involved. We are proud to partner with you on this mission and space exploration more broadly,” Vice President, Kamala Harris, said.

Calling the success an “incredible moment”, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella congratulated ISRO for its victory.

“My congratulations to ISRO on the moon landing of the Chandrayaan-3. What an exciting moment for India – and the future of space exploration,” Nadella wrote.

“Wow! Chandrayaan-3’s moon landing is a great achievement for India and all humanity! Congratulations to the ISRO team and all of India,” Gita Gopinath, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, wrote.

Chandra Arya, the Canadian parliamentarian, attributed the success to ‘India’s mastery of advanced technologies’. “India is now on the Moon”. Congratulations to India on Chandrayaan-3 becoming the first space mission to land near the south pole of the Moon and joining the exclusive club of just three other countries in the world to land on moon,” Arya, who hails from Karnataka, wrote. “This is proof of the sophistication of India’s space program and India’s mastery of advanced technologies. This is a great moment for the people of India and all those of Indian heritage across the world,” he said.

Last month, India signed the three-year-old Artemis Accords, a US-led international partnership on planetary exploration and research. The Artemis Accords is closely linked to NASA’s Artemis Program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon’s surface, build a space camp there, and carry out in-depth space exploration.

“Congratulations to ISRO and the people of India for the Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing on the South Pole of the Moon. We look forward to deepening our partnership with India on space exploration in the years ahead,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote on X.

US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, said he sees “exciting opportunities” ahead for the US and India. “That’s how you stick a landing! Congratulations to India, @ISRO and the entire team on the successful landing of #Chandrayaan3! I can see exciting opportunities ahead for #USIndiaSpace collaboration,” Garcetti said.

“India is the first country to ever land a craft on this part of the lunar surface,” Congressman Brad Sherman said.