NEW DELHI: Former ISRO chairman Dr S Somanath used his address at the 71st National Conference of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Friday to underline the co-existence of “faith and facts” in India’s scientific tradition, urging students to embrace both knowledge and cultural rootedness as the country pushes into a new technological era. Speaking at the General Bipin Rawat Auditorium in the tent city of Bhagwan Birsa Munda Nagar, he called the youth “the generation that will script India’s future”.“Faith and facts complement each other. Culture and innovation work hand in hand,” Somanath said, adding that India’s spiritual texts “contain insights into modern science and secrets about it”. He said knowledge in Indian tradition is viewed as “sacred” and acquired through tapas, while vigyan, sanskar and seva form the framework for national development.Pointing to India’s recent space achievements, he said: “We were the very first nation” to land a craft on the lunar south pole. He cited Aditya-L1, Gaganyaan, NISAR, SSLV and reusable rocket programmes as examples of India “showing the path to the world”. He also highlighted the rise of private space players such as Skyroot and Pixxel, saying they were “creating new stories”.On national capabilities, Somanath said Aadhaar-based services, UPI, cyber-physical integration and advances in defence technology had strengthened India’s strategic posture. Referring to Operation Sindoor, he noted, “We are strong enough to handle adversaries.”He emphasised that India’s future technology “should not be imported”, declaring that “they will be imagined, engineered, and perfected by the youth we have”. Calling this a generational moment, he added, “Bharat ek hai, aur isko ek rakhna yuvaon ki zimmedari hai.”Describing ABVP as “a movement, a mission, a national conscience”, he credited the organisation with shaping education policy, protecting cultural identity and strengthening unity campaigns. “The ABVP has done what other student organisations have not done,” he said.Somanath said India today possesses “moral clarity”, democratic stability and global technological heft. “This is the moment India has been waiting for for centuries. It has come… our time has come,” he told students, urging them to “dream big and be bold” as India moves toward its 2047 goals.
