India is brimming with pride after Shubhanshu Shukla became the first astronaut from the country to blast off to the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday, in a boost to the South Asian giant’s bid to become a space power.

The first astronauts in more than 40 years from India, Poland and Hungary have arrived at the International Space Station, ferried there by SpaceX on a private flight.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla shared many details of his life at the International Space Station during his 18-minute interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday from the space laboratory that is orbiting the earth at an altitude of 400 km.