«We have the honour to extend to Mr. S. Somanath our heartfelt congratulations on the occasion of his appointment to office, - says Ksenia Drozdova, Director General of Intersputnik. – The Department of Space has for many years actively participated in the work of Intersputnik’s Board and Operations Committee, the governing bodies that shape the general policy and long-term strategy of our Organization as well as make decisions on the Organization’s business. I can also add that our organizations have for a long time been linked not only by working relations but also by those of close partnership. We have always seen DoS and ISRO as a reliable and highly professional collaborate and established warm relations at a working level».

Evgeny Buydinov, Chairman of the Operations Committee of Intersputnik, Deputy Director General for Communications Systems Development and Operation at Russian Satellite Communications Company, pointed out that «Mr. Somanath successively rose from a rocket unit development engineer to the head of the national space agency and is well familiar with all aspects of the development of large-scale space infrastructure projects». Evgeny Buydinov felt confident that, «under S. Somanath’s guidance India’s space industry will be given a strong impetus for further development in close cooperation with the world community, including the member-countries of Intersputnik».

On behalf of the Intersputnik Directorate and Operations Committee we would like once again to congratulate Mr. Somanath with this honorable appointment.