New Delhi, Aug 24: The BJP on Monday hit back at Congress over its charge that the Modi government is pursuing an “aggressive privatisation agenda” in the space sector, asserting that the expansion of private participation is enabling ISRO to focus on frontier missions while industry scales up manufacturing and launch capabilities.

The remarks came after Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh accused the government of “strangulating and emasculating” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and pursuing an aggressive privatisation agenda for the space programme just as it has for nuclear energy.

Ramesh claimed recent reports about ISRO’s future role in India’s space programme raised “legitimate concerns”, given the capabilities built by the organisation over six decades.

MoS (Space) Jitendra Singh rejected Ramesh’s criticism, saying India’s space programme is “not being scaled back, but being scaled up”, with ISRO focusing increasingly on frontier missions such as Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-4 and the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, as well as future missions to the Moon, Venus and Mars.

“Under PM Narendra Modi, India’s space sector has taken a global trajectory by expanding from a predominantly government-led programme into a wholesome ecosystem integrating ISRO, industry and space startups. India’s space programme is not being scaled back. It is being scaled up,” he said in a post on X.

“At the same time, as India moves towards an ambition of 50 launches a year, industry has to become the manufacturer at scale, while ISRO develops the next generation of technologies and missions. This is the natural evolution of India’s space programme,” Singh added.

He accused Ramesh of “running down” Indian achievements and casting doubt on every step forward.

Citing the growth of the space sector and the emergence of private players, Singh said the number of foreign satellites launched by ISRO has risen from 35 before 2014 to 430 today, while the number of space startups has grown to around 440 from just a handful in 2014.

He cited Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 reaching orbit on July 18 this year as the first privately developed Indian rocket to do so.

“If India is to build a USD 44-billion space economy, we need many things happening simultaneously: ISRO research in the frontier technologies, private rocket factories, satellite manufacturing facilities, dedicated assembly, integration and testing infrastructure, commercially operated launch facilities, and a much deeper supply chain,” Singh said.

He noted that Sriharikota will remain at the heart of ISRO’s major launch programmes, including PSLV, LVM3 and human spaceflight, while Kulasekarapattinam will add capacity for the growing small-launch sector.

“That is not ISRO versus industry. The model is ISRO and industry together. Together, they are writing the next chapter of India’s space story,” Singh said.

BJP national spokesperson and national media co-in-charge Pradeep Bhandari also defended the government’s space sector reforms, saying the opening up of the sector has enabled private companies and startups to move from being suppliers to developers of rockets, satellites and complete space systems.

“From a largely government-driven programme to an emerging national space ecosystem. That is not the weakening of ISRO’s legacy. It is the expansion of India’s space ambition,” Bhandari said in a post on X.

He said private investment in the sector had risen from USD 100.5 million in 2021-22 to USD 618.5 million by March 2026, while NewSpace India Limited’s revenue had increased from Rs 321.77 crore in 2021-22 to around Rs 3,000 crore in 2024-25.

Bhandari cited Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing near the Moon’s south polar region and the development of LVM3 and SSLV as milestones in India’s space programme.

“ISRO gave India a formidable technological foundation over decades. The Modi government’s reforms have sought to build on that legacy by enabling ISRO, private industry, startups and investment to grow together,” he said.

“Jairam ji, I understand your frustration with India’s remarkable journey in space. But the numbers tell a story that is difficult to ignore,” Bhandari said.

Beijing, Aug 24: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit to take part in the Special Representatives talks on the India-China boundary question with his Chinese counterpart and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

The talks – scheduled to be held here on Tuesday – assume significance as they come amid uncertainties over Chinese President Xi Jinping’s much-anticipated visit to India for the BRICS summit on September 12-13.

They also come at a time when differences over the border and Arunachal Pradesh continue to figure prominently in India-China bilateral ties.

The ties between New Delhi and Beijing came under severe strain after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the prolonged military stand-off in eastern Ladakh. But both sides have since taken steps to stabilise relations.

Announcing the Special Representatives (SR) talks at a media briefing here on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Doval and Wang will have an in-depth discussion on the boundary question as well as other bilateral, regional and international relations.

The China-India SR talks are the main channel for negotiations between the two countries on the boundary issue, said Lin, adding that it is also an important platform for communication between the two sides on issues of mutual interest.

In August last year, China and India successfully held the 24th round of talks, during which the two sides had candid and in-depth exchanges of views on the boundary question and reached a number of common understandings, he said.

During this round of talks, which will be the 25th round, the two sides will continue the in-depth communication on the boundary question in the spirit of the common understandings between leaders of the two countries to jointly keep the border areas peaceful and tranquil, he said.

The two sides will also exchange views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues, Lin said.

Both Doval and Wang are the designated SRs for the boundary talks mechanism, which was established in 2003 to comprehensively address the dispute of the India-China border spanning 3,488 km.

While success eluded it in resolving the boundary dispute, officials on both sides regard the structured mechanism as a useful tool in addressing the recurring tensions between the two countries on various fronts.

Besides attending the SR talks, Doval will call on China’s Vice President Han Zheng, the External Affairs Ministry said in a press release on the NSA’s visit.

Lin, on Monday, skirted questions about Xi’s much-anticipated visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit next month.

While there is no official confirmation about Xi’s visit yet, officials on both sides are optimistic about the Chinese leader’s participation, which could provide an opportunity for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit to discuss initiatives to take forward bilateral ties.

Modi and Xi last met in August 2025 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin.

Ahead of Doval-Wang talks in Beijing, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday reiterated that “peace and tranquillity” along the border areas are a prerequisite for good relations with China.

His comments came amid reports of aggressive posturing by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Subansiri region in recent weeks.

“I think we went through a particularly bad patch between the summer of 2020 and the autumn of 2024, and that was primarily an outcome of the situation in the border areas,” Jaishankar said at the Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi.

On the reports of stepped-up Chinese military activity near the Arunachal Pradesh border, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on August 12 that the China-India border situation is “generally stable at the moment”.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on August 11 said that India considers matters relating to border areas with China as “most serious” and asserted that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control is of “utmost importance”, as the state of the frontier will govern the overall trajectory of bilateral ties.

Earlier, New Delhi also trashed Beijing’s criticism of its decision to formally identify 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names, emphasising that the state is an “inalienable and integral” part of India and nothing can change this “indisputable reality”.

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, has been releasing its set of names for the region since 2017.

India termed the Chinese move as “vain and preposterous”, asserting that such actions will not alter the “undeniable” reality that the state “was, is, and will” always remain an integral part of India.

New Delhi, Aug 24: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said three fugitive gangsters linked to the Bambiha Gang, wanted for multiple crimes including cross-border arms and narco-trafficking, have been deported from Malaysia.

Indian agencies have facilitated the deportation of 51 hardened criminals in 2026 alone.

In a message on ‘X’, his office posted, “Indian agencies got three absconding Indian gangsters apprehended in Malaysia, deported them to India, and sent them to police custody.”

“The fugitives, namely Jaspreet Singh, Ajay Singh and Pawandeep Singh, are linked to the Bambiha Gang and are accused of multiple crimes, including extortion, cross-border arms and narco-trafficking, and a foiled grenade attack in Ludhiana,” it said.

“Under Modi Ji’s vision of a safe and secure India, our agencies have facilitated the deportation of 51 hardened criminals in 2026 alone,” it said.

Patna, Aug 24: An Air India flight from Delhi suffered a bird hit while landing at the Patna airport on Monday, prompting authorities to conduct a runway inspection, an official said.

The Delhi-Patna flight, with 164 passengers on board, was about to land when the incident took place at 7:44 am, he said.

“The pilot of Air India flight AI 1741 reported a suspected bird strike. After the plane landed, the authorities carried out a runway inspection,” the airport official said.

“There was no disruption of flight operations at the airport due to the incident. All passengers are safe,” he said.