New Delhi, June 4 (TIWN) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday chaired a meeting of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Society via video conference.

He said that the country will remain eternally grateful to them for saving many lives.  The Prime Minister cited India's experience in the previous century to say that it used to wait for years to lay its hands on innovations achieved abroad, but its scientists are now working shoulder to shoulder with their counterparts outside.  "They are working at the same quick pace," he said.  Noting that the world is grappling with the biggest challenge in a century, he praised the scientific community, saying it is perhaps unprecedented that vaccines were prepared within a year.  On the occasion, Modi reiterated his call for an "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" (Self-reliant) and strong India, saying the COVID-19 crisis may have slowed its pace but our resolve remains the same.