India has just pulled off a major scientific feat. It is evidence of what national mobilization can do.
There is doubtless rejoicing in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, the site of the launch installation; in Bangalore, home of the Indian Space Research Organisation; in the capital of New Delhi; and all over the country as India celebrates the successful lunar landing of spacecraft Chandrayaan-3. On Aug. 23, the spacecraft made a soft landing near the moon’s south pole, believed by scientists to have minerals and ice. Chandrayaan means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit and Hindi, a principal language of the country. This space accomplishment puts India into an elite group that has accomplished soft landings, which also includes the United States, Russia, and China. The lunar lander, known as “Vikram,” in conjunction with a moon rover that it contains, is expected to provide information about the composition of the moon’s surface. (READ MORE: Modi Wins Big in Washington)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be able to leverage this event. With India’s position as the current host at the G-20 summit in September, the accomplishment stands in stark contrast to Russia’s Luna-25 probe, which crashed on the moon’s surface just a few days ago.
India’s space program is well developed. In 2013, the program launched a Mars orbiter that functioned for seven years, although the expectation had been that it would only work for six months. There have also been earlier lunar missions. In 2006, there was India’s first lunar probe, known as Chandrayaan-1, which stopped communications after a few years. And the lander of Chandrayaan-2 crashed on the moon’s surface in 2019.
This latest scientific development needs to be seen in the context of national purpose and the ability to mobilize resources. The difficulties of policy execution in India are well known — as it is an incredibly diverse nation with 22 languages recognized by its Constitution, is the place of origin for four of the world’s religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism), and has a federal system that adds complexity to governance.
In recent years, India has recorded other major policy achievements that have not received much attention outside of the country. The “Aadhaar” or foundation project, initiated in 2009 by the Unique Identification Authority of India under the auspices of the Planning Commission, is said to be the largest biometric identification program containing fingerprints, iris scans, and a unique Aadhaar number for each individual. Among the objectives are voter identification, labor force management, facilitation of subsidies and welfare, support of tax returns, and elimination of fraud. Today an estimated 99 percent of the Indian adult population holds an Aadhaar card. The project ramped up quickly, with over 1 billion people on Aadhaar by 2017. While there was a legal challenge, the Supreme Court ruled that no one should be disadvantaged with respect to benefits for not having an Aadhaar card.
Another major accomplishment is a reduction of the fertility rate to a currently estimated 2.1, generally considered a country’s replacement rate. This rate was nearly 6 at the time of independence in 1947. Family planning was a major initiative established by the government of India in 1952 that constituted a massive education and rural outreach program. Given India’s over 600,000 villages, many of which are remote, the scale of this national achievement should be evident.
A more historical example is the Green Revolution of the 1960s, which boosted farm yields for food grains and other crops through tube well irrigation and the use of fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides. Although distribution and storage have been problematic, India has moved from food shortages to being the world’s ninth-largest exporter.
India is a valuable technology partner for the United States. As I have written in The American Spectator, the United States and India have much in common, including an emphasis on leadership in technology and leading U.S. tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia that have CEOs or senior management who have Indian antecedents. Both countries are deeply concerned about the ascent of China and what it means economically and militarily. Collaborations between the U.S. and India in space and in artificial intelligence may be a signal to deter China and blunt its aggressiveness.
Collaboration in space can certainly put our earthly pursuits in perspective. As the Lunar Module Pilot of Apollo 14, Edgar Dean Mitchell, said, “From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty.”
Frank Schell is a business strategy consultant and former senior vice president of the First National Bank of Chicago. He was a Lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago, and is a contributor of opinion pieces to various journals.
RELATED:
As Its Population Surpasses China’s, India’s Economic Power Rises