Pakistan’s communications satellite, Paksat-IR was launched by China’s satellite launch vehicle from the Xichang launch centre in Sichuan province on Thursday placing Pakistan in the League of Nations owning and operating communications satellites.
The launching ceremony was attended by top-level officials of Pakistan and China including Secretaries for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Director General Strategic Plans Division and Pakistani Ambassador. It was a big achievement for Pakistani engineers who worked closely with their Chinese counterparts during all stages of development of the satellite. Some experimental units developed at SUPARCO were integrated for technology evaluation. The successful launch from Chinese territory demonstrated once again the deep rooted and strategic ties between the two countries. The satellite will be deployed at 380E in the geo-stationary orbit and will replace the Paksat-1. Pakistan entered the space age with the formal launching of a second hand purchased Paksat-I in January 2003. Since then our scientists and engineers had been making endeavours to launch indigenous satellite and ensure country’s permanent presence in the space. Paksat-IR has 30 transponders, design life of 15 years and will provide TV broadcasting, internet and data communications services in South and Central Asia, Eastern Europe, East Africa and the Far East. That is a significant achievement but in the present age of scientific developments, countries are moving fast and deployed satellites which are being used for spying and other military purposes as well. We hope that SUPARCO and other organisations are well aware of the challenges ahead and would not let the country down in the field of space technology.
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکِستان) is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west,India in the east and China in the far northeast.[7] Tajikistan also lies very close to Pakistan but is separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Strategically, Pakistan is located in a position between the important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the greater Middle East.[8]
The region forming modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures including theneolithic Mehrgarh and the bronze era Indus Valley Civilisation. Subsequently it was the recipient of Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, and Sikh cultures through several invasions and/or settlements. As a result the area has remained a part of numerous empires and dynasties including the Indian empires, Persian empires, Arab caliphates, Mongol,Mughal, Sikh and British Empire. Pakistan gained independence from the British Empire in 1947 after a struggle for independence, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, that sought the partition of India and the creation of an independent state for the Muslim majority populations of the eastern and western regions of British India.[9] With the adoption of its constitution in 1956, Pakistan became an Islamic republic.[10] In 1971, an armed conflict in East Pakistan resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.[11]
Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. With over 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world[2] and has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.[12] It is an ethnically andlinguistically diverse country with a similar variation in its geography and wildlife. With a semi-industrialized economy, it is the 27th largest in the world in terms of purchasing power. Since gaining independence, Pakistan's history has been characterised by periods of military rule,political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country faces challenging problems including terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and corruption.
Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed force and is the only Muslim-majority nation to possess nuclear weapons. It is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States and a strategic ally of China.[13][14] It is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)[15] and a member of the United Nations,[16] Commonwealth of Nations,[17] Next Eleven economies and the G20 developing nations.
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