Galileo will cater to India's needs: Prodi

Monday, 01 December 2003, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: India will cooperate with the European Union (EU) in developing the ambitious Galileo satellite navigation and positioning programme, conceived as an alternative to the global positioning system (GPS) of the US. European Commission President Romano Prodi announced this after delegation level talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the two-day 4th India-EU summit that concluded here Saturday. "This project has huge potential and India has made the right decision in coming on board. It means that your specific needs will be taken into account right from the start," Prodi said. He was speaking on "EU-India relations in a changing matrix", at a meeting organized jointly by the EU, Federation Of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Jawaharlal Nehru University. China signed an agreement last month to join the Galileo project. Official sources said the Indian side insisted on uninterrupted access to signals from the satellite as a condition for cooperating in the project, whose operational base will be in Munich, Germany. "This is a sensitive issue as far as we are concerned. We want assurance of uninterrupted satellite signals. From the strategic point of view it is very vital for us," an official said. Vajpayee, addressing 4th India-EU Business Summit, had said India would participate in the project as an "equal partner" and not as a "mere customer". India's expertise in cost-effective space technologies could bring both technical value and price competitiveness to the project, Vajpayee said. "We therefore seek to participate, not as a mere customer, but as an equal partner," Vajpayee said. "I don't think it is sensible to have one system in the world," EU Commissioner for External Relations Chris Patten said in response to a question by reporters. The GPS is a worldwide navigation system supported by a constellation of 24 satellites and ground stations. It uses "man-made stars" as reference points to calculate terrestrial positions accurate to a few metres. New Delhi's decision to support the EU project comes in the wake of the US war against Iraq in which the GPS was used extensively to bombard that country. The EU has been urging India to join the project, for which China has already committed 300 million euros. India is expected to announce 200 million euros for the project besides taking a share in the development of the satellite, which together would raise New Delhi's commitment to over 300 million euros, officials said. Although the initiators and backers of the project stress it is only for civilian use, they do not deny its military application. Apart from the strategic objectives, India sees in the Galileo project, named after the famous Italian physicist and astronomer, an opportunity to showcase its prowess in space technology.
Source: IANS
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