In his message, Prime Minister Ashraf specifically praised the scientists involved in the project, and in particular the three astronauts who had created history by manually docking the spacecraft with the Tiangong-I space lab module. The premier added that their professionalism and dedication in their chosen field was praiseworthy. “Excellency, we are proud that China is making rapid strides in the development of space technology which would bring enormous benefits for the whole world, especially the developing nations. China has always achieved in the shortest possible time what others have failed; the launch and docking of Shenzhou-IX spacecraft is one such example,” said the prime minister.

He added that Pakistan desired to forge closer space cooperation with China and learn from Beijing’s experience. “We are thankful to China for helping us build and launch the PAKSAT-IR satellite,” he said, “and hopefully, with your support we would be able to launch a Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite soon.”