New $36M South Asian satellite launch by India does not include Pakistan

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — In a first in the nation’s history, India’s space agency is set to launch a satellite Friday to provide communications services to its neighboring countries.

But not all of them.

The South Asia satellite, funded entirely by India, was announced several years ago with the intention of serving all eight members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). According to Uday Bhaskar, director of Delhi-based think tank the Society for Policy Studies, the satellite represents a “new form of regional cooperation,” and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called it a “gift to the SAARC region.”

The project does not, however, involve Pakistan, which removed itself in involvement of the development.

The satellite project comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries. This week, India accused Pakistan of mutilating the bodies of two of its soldiers in the disputed territory of Kashmir. Last year, militants from Pakistan killed 18 Indian soldiers in an attack on an Indian army base.

Some have suggested Pakistan may have pulled out due to espionage concerns. N. Sathiya Moorthy, a regional director at the Observer Research Foundation, said India should “do everything to ensure that policy makers (in Pakistan) remain convinced that it is nothing more than what India says it is.”

Lele hailed Pakistan’s backing out as a missed opportunity for Islamabad. Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the country was initially “keen to participate in the project.”

Experts say the move is also designed to counter China’s growing influence in South Asia. In 2011, Beijing launched a communications satellite for long-time ally Pakistan, followed by the launch of another for Sri Lanka in 2012.

The South Asia satellite weighs 2,230 kilograms and is carrying 12 top-of-the-line communication transponders, making it India’s most significant space project since February’s record-breaking launch of 104 satellites with a single rocket.

Since the 2013 launch of India’s Mars orbiter, the country’s space agency has established itself as a reliable, low-cost global player. Friday’s launch will enable the new satellite to provide telecommunications, disaster management and weather forecasting services, among others.