The first foreign astronaut to visit China’s Tiangong space station will be from Pakistan, the two countries’ space authorities have said.
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China will assist Pakistan in selecting and training astronauts and the chosen candidates will then travel to China for further training, the China Manned Space Engineering Office said on Friday after the signing of a cooperation agreement in Islamabad.
Later, one or more of them will join a Chinese crew for a short-term mission aboard Tiangong.
“Since the inception of China’s manned space programme, we have upheld the principles of peaceful use, mutual benefit, and shared development, offering cooperation opportunities to the global community,” the office said, adding that it hoped more developing countries would be inspired to explore space.
John Sheldon, a partner at Dubai-based space services and investment company AzurX, said Pakistan was one of Beijing’s earliest and most important partners in its Belt and Road Initiative and the announcement signalled to other participants that they too could benefit from China’s space programme.
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He added this could help solidify these relationships with Beijing and bolster China’s influence in countries where American influence had been diminished.