China brags it gave flood data, India calls it normal practice

NEW DELHI: Following a tweet by Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong that China had provided satellite data on India's flood-hit region after a request by Isro, the government said the exercise was a part of standard practice under which Isro too provides similar data to other space agencies to help them deal with any emergency.
Responding to queries related to the assistance from China, the foreign ministry said that under the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, "so far data has been received from eight countries, including USGS (United States Geological Survey), CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales), ESA (European Space Agency), ROSCOSMOS (Russian space agency), Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA) and three others".
"Isro has also provided information to other space agencies in response to similar requests," said MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. The official said due to the heavy floods in India, the Charter was activated on July 17 by the National Remote Sensing Center (NRSC) which represents Isro as a member of the Charter.
^[1][2][3][4]

References

1. ^{^} Isro (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} United States Geological Survey (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} European Space Agency (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Raveesh Kumar (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

from India News | Latest News Headlines & Live Updates from India - Times of India https://ift.tt/32XzMEe