American astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson has called India’s prime minister Narendra Modi “scientifically thoughtful”, and said that India has a “very bright future”. His comments came as he met Modi in New York on Tuesday. Modi is on his first state visit to the United States. Tyson also said that the potential for what India can establish knows no limits, news agency ANI reported.
"I am quite sure I am not alone when I say the potential for what India can accomplish knows no limits," an ANI report quoted Tyson as saying after his meeting with India's prime minister.
When Tyson met Modi, the author read out a quote from his book "Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier". The quote was: "For me, the sky is not the limit". Modi responded with a "wah", the report said.
Praising Modi, Tyson said he was "delighted to spend time in the company of a head of a state who is as scientifically thoughtful as is Prime Minister Modi", according to the report.
The astrophysicist also said that he believes that world leaders priorities about what needs to be going into the 21st century might be out of balance.
The science communicator explained that with the challenges in civilisation, the solutions are going to come from innovations in science and technology and engineering and maths, and said it is very clear to him that Modi cares about all this.
While Tyson said he has reserved his conversations about space for the next month, he stated he was sure space matters quite a bit to the Indian prime minister. Therefore, Tyson said, he was delighted to hear about future programmes Modi has in mind.
Modi shared pictures of his meeting with Tyson on Twitter, and wrote that they had conversations on space, science and related issues. The prime minister also said that he highlighted the steps India is taking to reform the space sector and draw more youngsters towards science as well as innovation.
Other personalities Modi has met with as part of his US state visit include SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, investor Ray Dalio and author Nicholas Nassim Taleb.