Modi, Belgian PM remotely activate ARIES Telescope at Deosthal, Uttarakhand

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, on Wednesday jointly carried out the remote technical activation of a 3.6 metre optical telescope located at Deosthal in Uttarakhand.

The telescope at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), has been installed in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, as a result of close collaboration between scientists from the two countries, especially between the teams of ARIES in India, and AMOS (Advanced Mechanical and Optical Systems) in Belgium.

This is a state-of-the-art world class telescope, which will contribute to observations for several frontline scientific applications.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister congratulated the scientists of both the countries for the successful installation of this sophisticated “fully steerable optical telescope in the lap of the Himalayas. He said this is not just a government to government effort, but it also involves an autonomous organization – ARIES – and a private company – AMOS. He said the remote technical activation from Brussels, 6500 km away, shows that nothing is impossible, once efforts are coordinated. He added that in this case, even the sky is not the limit!

ARIESCharles MichelDeosthalNarendra ModiPrime MinisterUttarakhand