The obsession with competing with India… Despite food shortages, Pakistan is preparing to send an astronaut into space with the help of China.

Islamabad: Pakistan is a unique country. Its people are desperate for every grain of food, yet the passion to compete with India is at its peak. They dream of standing equal to India not in the dark of night, but in broad daylight. They yearn to surpass India on every front, but this dream remains just that. Now they are even dreaming of challenging India in space. Imagine, the country that once relied on foreign aid even for satellite launches is now dreaming of sending its own astronaut into space. All this after India’s Shubhanshu Shukla successfully returned from the International Space Station. In order to ensure that Pakistan is not left behind, it is planning to send its own astronaut into space, and is enlisting the help of China.

Indeed, China announced on Thursday that it will send a Pakistani astronaut on a short journey as part of its space station mission. According to the Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, two Pakistani astronauts will undergo rigorous training with Chinese taikonauts, and then one will be selected as a “special scientific payload specialist” for the upcoming mission. This will be Pakistan’s first human spaceflight, made possible through cooperation with the China Manned Space Agency.

It should be noted that earlier this year, Pakistan’s space agency, the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO), signed a historic agreement with the CMSA. Under this agreement, Pakistani astronauts will receive professional training at China’s space center to prepare them for special experiments at Tiangong Station.

Selected astronauts will participate in scientific experiments in various fields, including microgravity research, biology, medicine, space engineering, materials science, and astronomy. These experiments, conducted in Tiangong’s high-tech labs, are expected to significantly contribute to the development of health sciences, climate monitoring, and space technology.

China has stated that the Tiangong Space Station is equipped with modern laboratories and external payload adapters, enabling simultaneous research in multiple scientific fields. The official purpose of this mission is to strengthen partnerships in space-based science, benefiting Earth through innovations in medical research and environmental studies.