India’s Chandrayaan-3 triumph gets front page coverage in Pakistan

August 24, 2023 1:18 pm

NEW DELHI: Several Pakistani newspapers on Thursday carried front-page stories on India’s moon mission, a day after Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed on the lunar surface.

Pakistani ministers and media figures referred to it as a noteworthy achievement for India’s space agency Isro.

India on Wednesday became the fourth nation to successfully soft-land on the lunar surface after the USSR, United States, and China.

Moreover, it is the first country to transcend on the south pole of the lunar surface, a fact vividly highlighted by Pakistan newspapers and websites.

Chandrayaan-3 is India’s redemption from the heartbreak that it had witnessed back in 2019 after the crash landing of Chandrayaan-2.

This success comes a week after Russia’s Luna-25, the country’s first moon mission in 47 years, crashed on the lunar surface while executing pre-landing maneuvers.

Former science and technology minister and ex-PTI leader Fawad Hussain lauded Isro’s achievement.

What a great moment for #ISRO as #Chandrayaan3 lands on the Moon, I can see lots of young scientists celebrating this moment with Mr Somnat Chairman ISRO, only Younger generation with dreams can change the world … good luck

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 23, 2023

He had earlier urged the media in Pakistan to livestream the historic moment and called it a great day for the Indian science community and space scientists.

This was a U-turn from his earlier stance as Union minister back in 2019 when he mocked India’s space mission as Chandrayaan-2 crash-landed.

Not just ministers, the feat of Isro scientists was admired even by locals in Pakistan.

“India is marching ahead, we are nowhere,” Ayub Akhtar, a resident of Islamabad, told PTI.

Echoing his views, Shamina Begum from Karachi said that India has stolen a march on them in science and technology, while Pakistan is battling for basics like food and education, amid high inflation and internal conflicts.

Several others pointed a finger at Pakistan’s political class for “letting the country down”. (With inputs from PTI)