NEW DELHI, October 20. /TASS/. Member of the Russian cosmonaut squad Denis Matveev answered questions from schoolchildren and students from India in an online format, a first for students of the "economic capital of India," Director of the Russian House in Mumbai Yelena Remizova told a TASS correspondent.

"This was the first time we organized such an online meeting with a cosmonaut. More than 50 people took part in the event. Denis Matveev answered audience questions for more than an hour," Remizova said.

She noted that the meeting was organized by the Russian House together with Russia's Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research in Mumbai.

"The kids were interested in everything - from training and requirements for future cosmonauts to scientific experiments and weird situations on board of a spaceship or orbital station," the agency's source said.

Remizova pointed out that the Russian House in Mumbai intends to continue cooperation with the Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

India's youth are especially interested in space right now due to the rapid development of India's space program. Following the successful launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the Moon and the Aditya-L1 solar research station, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is preparing to launch the first national manned mission to orbit, Gaganyaan, in 2024. "The Russian cosmonaut heartily wished success to his Indian colleagues," Remizova added.