KATHMANDU: The South Asia satellite, a new communication satellite was launched with an aim to interlink the South Asian countries through telecommunication and broadcasting services on Friday.

The satellite has been developed and funded entirely by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

On the occasion, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi extended congratulatory messages in a video conference yesterday.

PM Dahal had expressed his confidence that the newly launched satellite would help boost connectivity among the South Asian countries and help elevate public life in this region.

Similarly, Minister for Information and Communications Surendra Kumar Karki shared that Prime Minister Dahal was confident about the satellite helping to contribute in disaster management and scientific researches in user countries.

Dahal further stressed on taking the best possible advantages from the satellite services for the country like Nepal with geographical remoteness as he said in the congratulatory message that it would be helpful to provide communication services in the mountain and hilly regions of Nepal.

Earlier in November 2014, during the 18th SAARC Summit, Indian Prime Minister Modi had pledged to launch the SAARC satellite