from MARCUS MUSHONGA in Harare, Zimbabwe
HARARE, (CAJ News) – RUSSIA has pledged to contribute to the development of the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA).
The pledge, in line with the cordial relations between the two countries, coincides with commemorations of the first human to journey into outer space.
Yury Gagarin, the Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, achieved the milestone on April 12, 1961.
The flight lasted for 108 minutes. Since 2011 on Russia’s initiative, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution has annually marked April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight.
Russia, through its ambitious Space Programme, is eager to contribute to developing ZINGSA in pursuance to the highest level accord between President Vladimir Putin and President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe.
The relations were solidified in the course of the Zimbabwean leader’s historic visit to Moscow in 2019.
The Roskosmos State Corporation for Space Activities and ZINGSA, established in 2018, have intensified preparing memoranda of understanding (MoU) on Exploration and Use of Space for Peaceful Purposes.
Zimbabwe relations with Russia date back to January 1979, during the Rhodesian Bush War.
The then-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) soon established diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe in 1981, a year after independence.
– CAJ News