Pollution has no respect for national boundaries: Rakesh Sharma

Sharma was speaking on Earth’s fragility and the urgency of climate action at the Mumbai Climate Week on Wednesday. Sharing the stage with him were group captain Shubhanshu Shukla and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar

Mumbai: Recalling his historic spaceflight in 1984, wing commander Rakesh Sharma said he saw a forest fire in what was then Burma, now Myanmar. The plume of smoke, carried by upper atmospheric winds, stretched for many miles across the far east. That view drove home the point that pollution does not respect national boundaries.

Mumbai- India ---Indian cosmonauts Rakesh Sharma and Shubhanshu Shukla and cricketer Sachin Tendulkar participate in a session at Mumbai Climate Week at BKC in Mumbai, India on 18 2026 - ( Photo By/ HT ).

Sharma was speaking on Earth’s fragility and the urgency of climate action at the Mumbai Climate Week on Wednesday. Sharing the stage with him were group captain Shubhanshu Shukla and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Sharma, the first Indian to travel to space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11, said, “Pollution is no respecter of national boundaries, therefore, our destinies are interconnected in that way.” He highlighted that fields being burnt in one region will have an effect on nearby areas too.

The event marked the first meeting between Sharma and Shukla since the latter returned from a 20-day mission aboard the International Space Station in 2025. While Sharma became India’s first spacefarer in 1984, Shukla is the first Indian to have spent 20 days on the ISS.

Underscoring the importance of climate action, Shukla spoke about sustainability lessons from space. “There are no resources up there. So, everything you use on the station, you have to be mindful, because it costs a lot to send anything into space,” he said, adding that the air and about 98% of the water is recycled.

Quoting a popular line among astronauts, Shukla said, “There is a saying on the station that yesterday’s coffee is also tomorrow’s coffee. That’s how you recycle things. There is no other way to live in space. You have to be sustainable. Sustainable living is possible if you really make an attempt.”

Sharma noted how early astronauts who circled the Moon described Earth as a vivid blue planet. Over time, he said, the planet appears greyer. “That is what pollution is doing. There is visual evidence that all is not well with our planet. Our collective future depends on the actions we take today.”