As India gears up to celebrate its 80th Independence Day on August 15, the wishes pouring in this year are coming from 400 kilometres above the Earth. In a video message recorded aboard the International Space Station, three Roscosmos cosmonauts currently serving on Expedition 75 — Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev — took a break from their orbital duties to send India their personal greetings.
“India broke free from colonial rule and embarked on a path of self-reliance and prosperity,” Pyotr Dubrov said, opening the message by acknowledging the historic weight of the occasion before wishing the Indian people peace and continued prosperity.
Anna Kikina, the only woman currently active in Russia’s cosmonaut corps, turned her attention to the present and future of the two countries' partnership in space. She pointed to India’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme as proof that the relationship has entered “a new phase,” noting that India's Gaganyatris — the astronaut-candidates training for the country's maiden crewed mission — have been putting in hours at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia. “India is very beautiful from above,” she said, “but it is even more beautiful on Earth.”
Andrey Fedyaev said the closing line and he did it while holding the Indian tricolour aloft inside the station. “Long live India-Russia friendship!” he declared.
The cosmonauts used the occasion to also mark 65 years since Yuri Gagarin’s historic 1961 flight aboard Vostok 1, which made him the first human to travel into space. Months after that flight, Yuri visited India and was met with tremendous public affection. It was, as the cosmonauts recalled, one of the earliest symbols of the friendship between the two nations.
Dubrov and Kikina reached the station on July 14 aboard Soyuz MS-29, alongside NASA astronaut Anil Menon, for what is expected to be an eight-month mission. Fedyaev was already on board as part of the Expedition 74/75 crew.
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