Lauding India’s progress in space missions, Sweden’s Ambassador to India, Jan Thesleff, on Friday said that India is achieving what many other countries couldn’t achieve despite spending huge amounts of money.

He also termed India’s Venus Mission as “fascinating” and pinned strong hopes on it.

While speaking to ANI, Thesleff said, “It is (the Venus mission) fascinating. What India is doing. India is achieving so much, that other countries that spent much more budget cannot achieve. This really proves the talent of Indian scientists. We believe strongly in the Venus mission.”

Notably, the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are collaborating on a Venus mission.

ISRO is planning to launch Shukrayaan-1, India’s first Venus mission, in 2025. The mission will study Venus’ surface and atmosphere using instruments like radar, spectrometers, and cameras. Shukrayaan-1 will explore Venus’ geology, and volcanology, and search for signs of life.

Emphasising the growing partnership between India and Sweden, the envoy said the ties are built on the pillars of sustainability, green transition, and innovation.

“Sweden and India have a relation that goes far back, but more and more, there are a few pillars on which our relation is based. One is sustainability. The second is green transition, and the third is innovation. They all belong together because we need innovation to enable us to find a sustainable solution,” Thesleff said.

Thesleff further stated that Sweden and India are “seeing eye to eye” on these issues, adding that “We need to create more energy efficiency and be able to produce things differently with less emission. And Sweden has technology. Sweden has innovations. And so does India. So in this marriage between the two countries, between the innovation communities of India and Sweden, we find really a strength. And that is what we are aiming for in the future.”

The Ambassador also mentioned his recent meeting with Indian space firms, including ISRO, to explore collaboration opportunities. He lauded the historic achievement of Chandrayaan-3 and affirmed strong hopes from the upcoming missions.

“I just came back from Bangalore the other day, and I was there with a space delegation. We had the first space industry days, Swedish companies–11 of them. We had meetings with ISRO, we met with many Indian companies to see how we can collaborate with India,” the envoy said.

“We are so impressed by the achievements, the Chandrayaan 3 mission and also the Chandrayaan 4 that is coming, and the Venus mission. And we feel that as Sweden is one of the few countries in the world and the only country in the EU who has a launching capability, we have a launching range in northern Sweden, and we feel that we have something to offer to India,” he added.

The Ambassador further emphasised the importance of immediate climate action, echoing Mahatma Gandhi’s words, “The future depends on what we do in the present.” Thesleff stressed that achieving a sustainable future requires collective effort and urgent action

“The great Mahatma Gandhi said that the future depends on what we do in the present. So if we want to have a good and sustainable future, we need to act now. We have to act sustainably. We need to find the climate action that is needed. We cannot wait for the future to come. We must shape it. And what Sweden wants to do together with India, and we do it day to day, month by month, year by year,” the envoy further said.

Earlier, Sweden State Secretary for Foreign Trade, Hakan Jevrell, met with ISRO Chairman and DOS Secretary, Somanath S, in Bengaluru on September 25, where they discussed potential future collaboration opportunities in the areas of optical ground stations.

According to ISRO official statment, “The ongoing interactions in the field of space between India and Sweden and potential future collaboration opportunities in the areas of optical ground stations, utilising Sweden’s Esrange Space Center, exchange of experts for space research and participation in ISRO’s future space exploration missions were discussed during this meeting.