The Modi government’s “Look East” policy received a boost as India is building a Mega Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Ground Station in Vietnam for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
India which has been supplying the Covid-19 vaccine to neighboring countries is now building space cooperation among the ASEAN countries. Work has started on a ground station to be established in Vietnam’s payload data reception, processing, and dissemination facility.
This is now seen as space diplomacy as India aims to provide a reliable operational space-based system for remote sensing over the ASEAN countries like Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
The proposed facility for the ground station would be built on four hectares of land at My Phuoc 3 industrial park, in Binh Doung province of Vietnam and this facility will have a 11m antenna installed by ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network(ISTRAC).
The estimated cost for the project is 86 billion Vietnamese dollars and work will be completed in 18 months.
This facility once finished will be very helpful for ISRO which already has ground stations in Bengaluru, Lucknow, Mauritius, Sriharikota, Port Blair, Thiruvananthapuram, Brunei, Biak.
The idea of a ground station in Vietnam was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 at the India ASEAN meeting at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar and in the following year, India told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) its vision of the free and open Indo-Pacific region.
This particular initiative has been called India’s space diplomacy wherein India conducts foreign affairs and advances its national interests by joining like-minded countries in the ASEAN region and counter global powers who are exercising their hegemony.
India has proposed to support ASEAN countries to receive the data from RESOURCESAT 2 and OCEANSAT 2 that will be very helpful for countries that are in the South China Sea region.
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