India has sought the help of Russia to join the orbital International Space Station project in the face of "objection by some other project partners," a top Russian space agency official has said.
"India has approached us, this (India) is a serious space power and would like to join ISS project. However, objection by some other project partners has put a question mark on this issue," Russia's Federal Space Agency Chief Anatoly Perminov said responding to a question about the expansion of the ISS project participants.
Besides Russian RKA, the ambitious ISS project includes the NASA of the USA, Canada, Japan and European Space Agency.
"I won't identify, who is concretely blocking India's entry, but they argue that the number of participants of the project is set by the international treaties and is enough to complete the construction of the orbital station," Perminov told reporters at a news conference in Moscow.
Lauding India's achievements in unmanned space flights, Perminov said that it was her natural desire to offer its contribution in the development of ISS.
"I am confident that sooner or later, in any case after 2010, this issue (India's accession) will again be raised," Perminov said.
