Global and local leaders cheer India as Chandrayaan-3 makes historic moon landing

India on Wednesday became the fourth country to land on the moon after the Indian Space Research Organisation's Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole.

Students and staff members watch live telecast of lunar landing at Osmania University in Hyderabad. AFP

Following are some reactions to the occasion:

S. SOMANATH, INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANISATION (ISRO) CHAIRMAN

"India is on the moon.”

NARENDRA MODI, PRIME MINISTER, INDIA

"This moment is unforgettable. It is phenomenal, it is the call of a developed India. It is the victory call for a new India".

MALLIKARJUN KHARGE, PRESIDENT, OPPOSITION CONGRESS PARTY

"The success of #Chandrayaan3 is the collective success of every Indian. An elated nation with (1.4 billion) aspirations witnessed today yet another achievement in its six-decade long space programme.”

RAHUL GANDHI, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, CONGRESS

"Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing on the uncharted lunar South Pole is the result of decades of tremendous ingenuity and hard work by our scientific community. Since 1962, India’s space program has continued to scale new heights and inspire generations of young dreamers.”

Schoolchildren cheer as they watch the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 at the Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi on Wednesday. AP

The US State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs: "Your success will power the imagination and light the future of people around the world,” posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Russia's Roscosmos space agency "Roscosmos congratulates Indian colleagues on the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3. Exploration of the Moon is important for the whole of humanity, in the future it may become a platform for the deeper mastering of space."

European Space Agency’s director general Josef Aschbacher: "Incredible!, I am thoroughly impressed.”

NASA’s former science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen: "felt proud of the achievement."

BILL NELSON, ADMINISTRATOR, NASA

"Congratulations ISRO on your successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar South Pole landing! And congratulations to India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!”

JOSEF ASCHBACHER, DIRECTOR GENERAL, EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY "Incredible! Congratulations to ISRO, Chandrayaan-3, and to all the people of India!! What a way to demonstrate new technologies AND achieve India’s first soft landing on another celestial body. Well done, I am thoroughly impressed."

UK SPACE AGENCY: "History made! Congratulations to ISRO”

Schoolchildren stand for photographs with a paper model of Chandrayaan-3 in Mumbai. AP

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, PRESIDENT, SOUTH AFRICA

"This for us, as the BRICS family, is a momentous occasion and we rejoice with you. We join you in the joy of this great achievement.”

PUSHPA KAMAL DAHAL, PRIME MINISTER, NEPAL

"I congratulate Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and ISRO team of India on successful landing of Chandrayan-3 in the surface of the moon today and unleashing of a historic achievement in science and space technology."

Reuters