Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2015-09-09

Satellite for SAARC Countries to be launched by the Government of India

- Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) including Sri Lanka welcomed in principle, the offer made by India to develop and launch a Satellite, at the 18th SAARC summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in November 2014. India will design, build and launch the satellite as a gift from India to the SAARC Member States and in order to provide the services necessary to enhance the cooperation among the SAARC member countries, the Satellite will be located at 48°E. In this backdrop, India expects to enter into specific Bilateral Agreements with each SAARC Member State, in regard to the proposed Orbit Frequency Coordination of Satellite. As such, the proposal made by Hon. Mangala Samaraweera, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to sign the proposed Bilateral Agreement between Sri Lanka and India, during the forthcoming Indian visit of the Hon. Prime Minister, was approved by the Cabinet.