Astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla meets PM Modi in Delhi, gifts tri-colour that travelled to space

PM Modi hosted Shukla at his residence in Delhi.

The Prime Minister welcomed Shukla, who was wearing an ISRO astronaut's jacket, with a hug.

Shukla, meanwhile, gifted the Axiom-4 mission patch to PM Modi and showed him pictures of the Earth taken from the International Space Station.

He is the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS).

During the meeting, the two discussed a wide spectrum of subjects including Shukla’s experiences in space, India’s strides in science and technology, and the country’s ambitious human spaceflight programme—Gaganyaan.

"Had a great interaction with Shubhanshu Shukla. We discussed a wide range of subjects including his experiences in space, progress in science & technology as well as India's ambitious Gaganyaan mission. India is proud of his feat.," PM Modi posted on X after the meeting.

Shukla and his fellow crew members returned to Earth after a 22-hour journey since they undocked from the ISS on July 15.

Axiom 4 or Mission 'Akash Ganga' is the first firm step for India's Gaganyaan human space flight mission.

During the 18-day mission, Mr Shukla, along with astronauts Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), conducted more than 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions aboard the ISS.