Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has become the 4th nation in the world to become ‘space power’ after the likes of US, Russia and China which can take down even satellites of enemies during war.
“India has shot down an LEO satellite by an anti-satellite missile. It was conducted under Mission Shakti, which was completed in three minutes,” the Prime Minister said in a special address.
According to PM Modi, the Indian missile A-SAT hit a predestined target and the operation is called ‘Mission Shakti’ which even lasted for just 3 minutes. “India has entered its name as an elite space power. An anti-satellite weapon A-SAT successfully targeted a live satellite on a low earth orbit,” PM Modi added in a statement.
Replying to that, Pakistan said on Wednesday that it was ‘against the militarization of outer space’. “Space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarization of this arena,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said in a statement.
He said, adding that Pakistan was a “strong proponent of the United Nations resolution on Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space”. “Boasting of such capabilities (to destroy satellite) is reminiscent of Don Quixote’s tilting against windmills,” he said citing India’s test.
“We hope that countries which have in the past strongly condemned demonstration of similar capabilities by others will be prepared to work towards developing international instruments to prevent military threats relating to outer space,” Faisal said, without naming any country.
In Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs told in a statement that India has no plans of entering into an arms race in outer space.