India, April 23 -- Two Pakistani candidates have been selected as the first foreign astronauts for China's space mission training, a government announcement said here on Wednesday.

The two Pakistanis, Muhammad Zeeshan Ali and Khurram Daud will come to China soon as reserve astronauts for training, China Manned Space Agency said in a statement. After completing all training and evaluations, one of them will participate in a space mission as a payload specialist, becoming the first foreign astronaut on board the Tiangong space station.

The first selection of foreign astronauts for China's manned space program was completed in early April, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Last year, China announced plans to send an astronaut from its...