Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, who became the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) and the second to travel to space after Rakesh Sharma.

Shukla was part of the Axiom-4 commercial mission, which embarked to the ISS on June 25 and returned on July 15. Shukla met the prime minister at his official residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg. Shukla sported an ISRO astronaut's jacket and was greeted by PM Modi with a warm hug.

Shukla gifted PM Modi the mission patch of the Axiom-4 mission and the Indian national flag that he had taken with him to the ISS. It is the same tricolour was fluttering in the background on the ISS when Shukla interacted with Modi on June 29.

On June 29, in the initial days of the Axiom-4 mission, PM Modi had interacted with Shukla. During the interaction, PM Modi had asked him to document his learning, training, and stay at the ISS as it would help India's future missions, including Gaganyaan.

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Talking about his meeting with Shukla, PM Modi posted on X, saying, "Had a great interaction with Shubhanshu Shukla. We discussed a wide range of subjects, including his experiences in space, progress in science & technology as well as India's ambitious Gaganyaan mission. India is proud of his feat".

Shukla, the Lucknow-born astronaut, was also seen showing photographs to PM Modi that he had taken from the ISS on a tablet computer. After returning to Earth on July 15, Shukla went through the rehabilitation program in Houston, Texas.

After completing it, he returned to India on Sunday. Earlier this month, Shukla said that he had fulfilled the task entrusted to him by Prime Minister Modi to document every aspect of his mission for the benefit of India's upcoming Gaganyaan programme.

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"I remember very well the homework given to me by the prime minister. And I completed it very well. I am very excited to come back and share it with you all. I am confident that all that knowledge is going to prove extremely useful and crucial for us, for our own Gaganyaan mission," Shukla said on August 1.

Along with three other astronauts -- Peggy Whitson (US), SlawoszUznanski-Wisniewski (Poland), and Tibor Kapu (Hungary) -- Shukla conducted over 60 experiments and 20 outreach sessions during the 20-day Axiom-4 mission. 

(With PTI Inputs)