ISRO team in US for space conference amid strain in ties

Notwithstanding the current unease in bilateral ties, a team of top ISRO scientists are here to participate in the first ever ministerial meet on international space exploration hosted by the US.
The Indian delegation led by A S Kiran Kumar, Associate Director of the Space Applications Centre (SAC), is here for the two-day 2014 Space Exploration Conference and Heads of Space Agency Summit, which among others is attended by heads of 30 top space agencies including those from China, Germany, the US and Russia.
However, the Indian delegation is neither represented at the ministerial level nor is led by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) head Dr K Radhakrishnan.

There has been no official explanation given for a relatively low level representation at such an international conference, fuelling speculation that it is probably influenced by the recent strain in India-US ties following the arrest of senior Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York last month on alleged visa fraud charges.
The Indian participation in this important meeting today and tomorrow was described by the State Department as business as usual.
"We're welcoming an Indian delegation to the State Department tomorrow as part of the first ever international space exploration forum we announced earlier today," State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters.

"So just important to note that we do have ongoing dialogues on a range of issues and we will schedule the energy dialogue at the appropriate time," Psaki said.

This announcement came on a day on which this month's India trip of US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz was postponed.
Psaki said India and the US have significant collaboration in the field of space exploration.
One of the aspects of the Indian participation is expected to be its attendance in round table on space exploration along with scientists from China, Sweden and the US, Dr Jean Michel Contant, Secretary General International Academy of Astronautics, said.

Founded in 1960, the president of IAA is now the former ISRO chairman Madhavan G Nair.
At a news conference, Prof Jan Woerner, head of the German Aerospace Center, said that India is a leading space power in the world and praised India's success in a short span of time.
"India has its own launching capability and there are only a few countries which have this capability," Woerner told PTI in an interview on the eve of this prestigious conference.