Athens: The Indian diaspora in Greece’s Athens has expressed joy on Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the southern polar region of the Moon.

Members of the diaspora also expressed happiness over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Greece on Friday.

A person Manoj Kumar Chouhan said: “We are happy. Earlier it was said 'Chanda mama dur ke lekin ab Chanda mama ghar ke ho gaye hai'...PM Modi is coming here also, and we are excited about it...”.

Another person Manisha Chaudhary got emotional while talking about Chandrayaan-3.

"Today everyone was excited. Today we called our friends and told them about our #Chandrayaan3 that it has landed. It's a proud moment for us..." she said.

Speaking on PM Modi's upcoming visit to Greece, she said: "The Indian community here is excited to welcome PM Modi. People here like PM Modi and are excited to see him..."

Another member of the diaspora Bhavi Sadh said, "I want to congratulate all the people of the county for the successful landing of #Chandrayaan3...Indians living here are happy that PM Modi is coming here."

Diaspora members were sitting at Indian Haveli Restaurant in Athens, Greece, chanting 'Modi' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' slogans to mark Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the Moon.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for the President of the United Nations General Assembly Paulina Kubiak on Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing said: “It is something that we kind of shared this morning. I mean, the president congratulates India. Obviously, it was within the OPGA office. Many of the Indian colleagues were celebrating that achievement.”

Chandryaan-3 on Wednesday successfully performed a perfect soft landing on the Moon.

ISRO tweeted: "Chandrayaan-3 Mission: 'India, I reached my destination and you too!' Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon! Congratulations, India!"

As the Vikram lander carrying the Pragyaan rover in its belly touched down on the lunar surface, it marked a giant leap in India’s spacefaring journey providing a well-deserved finale to ISRO’s long years of toil.

This makes India the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface, it has earned a place in record books as the first to touchdown on the south side of Earth’s only natural satellite.

Special screenings of the soft landing were organized across the country, including schools science centres, and public institutions. ISRO made the live action available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV.

The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.

Following his visit to South Africa, PM Modi will travel to Greece on August 25. During his visit, he will hold a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis and discuss ways to further deepen the ties between the two nations. He will also interact with business leaders from both countries. He will also have an interaction with the Indian community in Greece.

"Following his visit to South Africa, the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to Greece on 25 August 2023 at the invitation of H.E. Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece. This will be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Greece in 40 years," MEA said in a press release.

It further said, "India and Greece enjoy civilizational ties, which have strengthened in recent years through cooperation in areas like maritime transport, defence, trade and investments and people-to-people ties."