NEW DELHI: Following his historic mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla received a red-carpet welcome at Delhi’s IGI airport as he returned to the country from the US in the early hours of Sunday. Shukla, who piloted the spacecraft to the space station as part of the Axiom-4 mission, was welcomed by Union space minister Jitendra Singh, Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta and Isro chairman V Narayanan, and a large crowd of space enthusiasts at the airport.Posting on X later, minister Jitendra Singh said, “A moment of pride for India! A moment of glory for #ISRO! A moment of gratitude to the dispensation that facilitated this under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. India’s Space glory touches the Indian soil… as the iconic son of Mother India, Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla lands at Delhi in the early hours of morning today. Accompanying him, another equally accomplished Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, one of the astronauts selected for India’s first Human mission Gaganyaan who was India’s designated backup for the mission to the ISS. Privileged to receive both of them”.Shukla is expected to meet PM Modi and then travel to his hometown Lucknow. He is likely to return to the Capital on Aug 22–23 to participate in the National Space Day celebrations.The Lok Sabha will hold a special discussion on Monday on India’s space journey and Shukla’s historic mission aboard the ISS, according to a notice issued by the lower House. The House will discuss “India’s first astronaut aboard the ISS — critical role of space programme for Viksit Bharat by 2047”, which could possibly end the deadlock between the govt and opposition in Parliament over the electoral roll revision in Bihar.Earlier on Saturday, Shukla had posted a smiling photograph of himself on a flight and said he was filled with emotions. “As I sit on the plane to come back to India, I have a mix of emotions running through my heart. I feel sad leaving a fantastic group of people behind who were my friends and family for the past one year during this mission. I am also excited about meeting all my friends, family, and everyone in the country for the first time post mission. I guess this is what life is — everything all at once,” he said.In the 79th Independence Day speech at the Red Fort on Friday, PM Modi, while mentioning Group Captain Shukla’s successful mission to ISS, had said that India is working towards becoming self-reliant in the space sector and preparing for the launch of Gaganyaan, its indigenous human space flight mission, and is also working on developing its own space station.In June, Shukla became the second Indian to go to space — after IAF wing commander Rakesh Sharma in 1984— as part of the Axiom-4 mission to the ISS. During the 18-day mission, Shukla, along with astronauts Peggy Whitson (US), Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary), conducted more than 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions aboard the ISS. He returned to the Earth on July 16.