He was delivering the inaugural address at the 58th International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad on Monday.
While lauding the nation’s achievements so far, he called attention to some of the issues. “We can ill afford the duplication of efforts and resources. International cooperation by pooling our financial and human resources becomes imperative,” he said. “The question today is not whether we should cooperate but rather can we afford not to.”
He also felt that there was a wide asymmetry in policy and regulatory environment as applicable to commercial space activities in technology flow, market access and regulations. Chavan also called for public-private partnerships to supplement the government’s role in space activity. 
The need for a robust system for protection of space assets whether used for military or societal aspects needs to be addressed, he said, so that space technology was used to its fullest potential. 
G Madhavan Nair, chairman, ISRO and President, Astronautical Society of India, touched upon the role of ISRO in solving problems of the common man. Dr Nair also pointed out how ISRO was now entering the next phase of space vision with its space planetary exploration visions. 
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajshekar Reddy appreciated the role of ISRO in the many schemes that the state has embarked upon and noted that the need was to focus on the plight of the common man.
This is the second time the congress is being held in India, the last time being in 1988 in Bangalore. The present congress has around 2,000 participants from all over the world. 
The five-day Congress was inaugurated with a mega cultural event that saw dance and music performances. The inauguration concluded with the rendition of AR Rehman’s national anthem recently recreated with the 12 maestros of the country.