India’s Space Diplomacy

A peaceful and prosperous neighbourhood is critical for India’s strategic, geo-political aspirations. A key objective of India’s foreign policy in the region is to overcome obstacles to regional integration and to broaden the scope for cooperation without appearing hegemonic.

• Initiatives like the ‘South Asia Satellite’ provide a means of pursuing these objectives. This project arguably is the first opportunity for India to harness its activities in outer space for distinct foreign policy goals. India first put forward the idea of a dedicated satellite for South Asia in June 2014.
• The satellite, which India launched in May 2017, is a geosynchronous satellite featuring twelve Ku-band transponders to facilitate a range of communications related and meteorological applications. It has a planned mission life of more than twelve years. The roughly 2-ton satellite was built, financed, and operated by ISRO.
• Participating states have been encouraged to provide feedback, voice concerns about the project, and send representatives to an intergovernmental team that will manage the satellite.
• The targeted exploitation of space capabilities, evidenced by the South-Asian satellites and the maturation of navigational services through the NavIC satellite systems, augur well for India.
• India is now in a position to flex its muscles with regard to space technology and applications and has reached a diplomatic vantage point.